Secter and Tatsumaki
by the reformist
Summary: A bittersweet romance that delves deep into two emotionally hurting characters. This story will go to some dark places between several of the characters involved and takes place not long after the webcomic's Psychic Sisters arc. It's also a non-canon crossover with some of my original stuff, but one doesn't need to have read any of that to appreciate what's here. Enjoy the story!
1. Chapter 1

With the throttle pushed all the way forward, Secter's vision grew watery as his ship plummeted towards the planet. Little streams poured forth from the corners of the man's eyes, the light from the nearby Sun reflecting off of them and back through the cockpit windows. He wiped away at his face, sniffling as he flung his wrist back and forth. As he neared the atmosphere, he flipped a switch on his controlboard and the entire ship began to hum and fade from view. Flying through clouds, Secter spotted the ground coming into view and braced himself for a landing. Pulling the throttle upward, Secter landed in a nearby dump, making sure to avoid bumping into the piles of garbage nearby. No clouds of dust emanated from the ground as his ship floated to the earth below, and Secter stepped out of seemingly nothing towards the trash mountains. He pulled a device from his hand, and with the press of a button, the vessel vanished from its spot to a moon far away. Taking his first step forward, Secter strode towards the lights of the nearest city.

The man was a beacon with bags under his eyes, always tired but never unwilling to smile for others. He was tall, but never loomed over anyone. An angled jawline underneath his face, Secter was often described as nice to look at, but not to the point of gawking. At first glance, people might be offput by his serious demeanor, but his voice and jokes invited them to a place of calm. Messiness abounded the top of his head, his black hair ruffled and unkempt but always kept short enough to stay out of his face. Any quips he made were oftentimes accompanied by a smirk, but somehow everyone knew not to take him too seriously. It seemed as if Secter wanted it this way, struggling to keep a balance between the seriousness and the lightheartedness, and it showed through his face and exhausted posture. There could never be enough sleep for him, and the man who shuffled towards the nearby buildings dreamed of a place where he could rest alone. Muscled yet lean at the same time, he would always be accused of moving slowly, whether it was through movement or through moving on. He hoped no one would notice him as he encountered the first avenue of the city.

He kept his head down as he walked, but no one was paying attention to him anyways. As he reached his destination, he took his hands out from the grey hoodie he was wearing. Secter ruffled his hair, and put on a winning smirk before heading inside. A man in a suit sat behind a wooden desk before him, and he gave Secter a quizzical look as he approached.

"Hey there," said Secter. He pointed a quick finger at the suited man. "Looking to rent."

Several days later Secter was all set up, couches and blankets and chairs arranged in a living space all his own. The place was squat, tiny, and soon to be messy under Secter's jurisdiction. Living room melted into the kitchen, the two rooms barely separated by a couple of feet of carpet which converged with white tile. A small and grimy bathroom sat right next to the kitchen. The bedroom lay at the end of a short hall adjacent to the bathroom, it too being cramped and barely large enough for Secter to fit a twin-sized bed into.

Putting away a group of bottles of black liquid, some glowing bandages and several syringes of neon yellow ooze as well as a sleek, grey revolver adorned with glowing lights in different areas of the house, Secter made his way out to the dining room. He pushed out his lower lip and gave an approving nod to the finished product that was his home, before taking a small book out from his pocket and setting it down in a nearby drawer. Sliding it shut, Secter left his house, and before long, he stood near the massive monument known as the Hero Association Headquarters.

"Why so far?" asked Secter to himself. "Out in the middle of goddamn nowhere."

He made his way through the front doors of the place, getting a strange feeling that he was being watched as he went. Inside was a massive lobby, people in suits shuffling all around and a giant billboard erected along one of the nearby walls. Adorned on it were lists of names, each one with a lettered label attached firmly beside them. Secter eyed the board up and down, his brows furrowing at the sight of it.

"Move," came a voice from behind him.

Secter turned around. No one came into view at first. A tiny wisp of green, one which Secter had to squint to see, floated up from the bottom of his vision before falling back down below it again. He peered downwards to see an angry woman staring up at him, frustration building up like a time bomb behind her gaze.

"I said move, can't you hear me?" asked the woman.

"No problem," said Secter. He slid out of the way, only to notice someone else with the short woman. The companion was taller, her hair a shade darker than her tiny compatriot, but her gaze was one of a corpse and her face almost mirrored the ceramic which contained the potted plants behind her.

"See?" asked the short woman. She pointed to a name on the billboard, and the other woman gave a little groan in response. "You're still B-class. Why not try against Amai Mask later this week. You are stronger, right?"

The other woman, who by mind-searching Secter found her name to be Fubuki, was rooted to the spot.

"Well?" asked the shorter woman, who was found by Secter to be called Tatsumaki.

"I…I can try," said Fubuki.

"Try?" asked Tatsumaki. "That's not the kind of talk I want to hear."

"Who are you two?" asked Secter. At his voice, Tatsumaki shot him a venomous side glare.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki. "Do you live in a hole or something?"

"Close enough," said Secter. "I mean, if I spread my arms wide I could touch both walls of my living room."

"I'm Tatsumaki. S-class hero? How do you not know this?"

"You should be honored to be before us," said Fubuki.

Secter snorted.

"Is that right?" he asked. "And who might you be, oh holy one?" At the last few words he gave a short bow. When he pulled himself back up he was sure he was about to be murdered by the two women.

"My name's Fubuki," she said. "You haven't heard of me?"

"He's wasting your time, sis," said Tatsumaki. "Ignore him."

"You said something about being a hero," said Secter. "You mean like the people on this board?" He jerked a thumb at the billboard.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki. "Yes! I'm at the top! Are you some kind of idiot or something? Or…wait, are you joining the Hero Association?"

"Possibly," said Secter.

Tatsumaki burst out laughing, pointing a finger at Secter's chest as she did so. After a few seconds she rubbed her eyes and began to speak.

"You?" she asked. "Oh that's hilarious. I mean, don't get me wrong, you look like you might be able to fight a wolf at best, but you?" She began to laugh again, little spurts of chuckling punctuating her sentences. "Oh, what I would give to see you try the hero testing."

"You don't have to be a piece of shit about it," said Secter.

The laughing stopped. Secter looked over at Fubuki, who appeared to have seen a nuke go off in the distance. He turned back to Tatsumaki, whose fists were now balled tight.

"Sis…" said Fubuki.

A smile began to form on Tatsumaki's lips.

"No, no, it's ok," said Tatsumaki. "He just doesn't know." She began to chuckle again, a sound which began to grate on Secter's mind. "You go and take that test, you little degenerate, and see where you place. And when you're done, I'll come find you. And I'll kill you."

"Remind me again, you're supposed to be a hero?" asked Secter.

"I'll kill you later though, bit busy now," said Tatsumaki. "Have fun on the test!" She laughed again, which brought the attention of passersby hundreds of feet away.

"Come along now sis, I'm in a good mood," said Tatsumaki. "Let's go get some ice cream."

"I…I don't want…" began Fubuki.

But she was already being dragged to the entrance by the smirking little demon, while Secter watched with his mouth ajar.

"The hell is wrong with these people?" he asked. Secter took another look at the billboard. Upon closer inspection he could see both of the women's names, one at the top of what was called B-class, the other first from the top of S-class.

. . .

The following day, a ninety foot tall carp monster knocked over the building opposite of Secter's home. Secter opened his eyes to the cascading crash of stone and metal, and jumped out of bed. He flung the blinds open, and was blinded himself by the sun's rays for a second. Sending a T-shirt flying over his body, he dashed outside to face the fishy menace. It towered over the nearby homes, muscled humanoid limbs jutting out from its slimy body. The creature must've destroyed over half a block by now, and showed no signs of stopping. Secter readied himself for a fight.

Several people had already beat him to the punch, all trying to surround the monster. One of them, a man dressed in what looked like a budget skeleton Halloween costume, smashed his hammer down on the half-carp, half-human's foot. It responded in kind by kicking the man through a building, before smashing its tail down on his body. Another person, this one a woman surrounded by floating chains, joined her steel whips with a giant flail of another cape-clad hero to form a spiky, iron-clad ball of death that was swung directly into the creature's side. Both the chain woman and the flail man yelled in delight to see it connect, only to have their faces fall to a deep abyss as the metal ball limped off the monster's side. Roaring in anger, the carp-thing kicked the chain woman into a nearby wall before flinging her into the street with a flick of its toes. Then it turned to the flail man, who was sprinting towards the fallen woman. He did not make it in time, with the fish creature swiping a claw at him and sending him flying into a nearby car windshield.

 _They survived all that,_ thought Secter. _That's…pretty amazing. Well, time to step in._

Although the flail man was already seeping blood out through the cuts he got from the glass, the Halloween man was limping while his arms turned purple from his thrashing, and the chain woman's legs were bent in a way they weren't supposed to bend, they all started to crawl back towards the creature, their faces determined and their weapons ready.

Secter began to smile, the biggest and most radiant in a while.

 _These people,_ he thought. _I wish I knew more people like them._

He slammed his left foot back and reared himself for a sprint, when another person came into view, flying like a bullet from atop one of the buildings. The newbie came in a flash, and within seconds, the once towering carp monster was now a pile of cubed fish, each neatly stacked upon the other in a pyramid of shiny meat. Secter watched the newcomer as he moved, while all the others gasped at the tower of fish flesh, almost as if they were unsure as to how it was created in the first place. Within a few seconds, the newcomer came into view, and all the other fighters let out sighs of relief. Secter on the other hand, stared in complete confusion.

"That takes care of that, now to find someone for clean up," said the newcomer. A mind search found his name to be Flashy Flash.

Flash stood there admiring his work, and not before long, crowds of people spilled out into the streets to admire him. People pushed and shoved and lifted slips of paper into the air, all shouting and screaming his name, while others yelled about how cool his building blocks of carp were. Flash smiled a cool smirk and nodded, occasionally taking photos or pieces of paper for autographs.

Meanwhile, the other fighters collected themselves. Flail man and chain woman were supporting one another as they limped along, with chain woman clasping her hand over the flail man's cuts. Their names, as Secter found, were Flail Fighter and Chain Wisdom, but their real ones were Rikuto and Mei. He approached them, teleporting a wad of glowing bandages into his hand from somewhere within his house.

"Hey there," said Secter. The two looked up at him, and Rikuto waved him off.

"Oh, hello citizen," said Rikuto. "Have no fear, the monster is gone."

"I can see that," said Secter. "Take this for a sec." He handed them the glowing bandages, which Mei snatched up. She eyed them with suspicion, before peering up at Secter.

"Why are they glowing?" she asked.

"Trust me, they'll help way more than your typical stuff," said Secter. "They're uh, they're secret tech from some of the best minds of the Hero Association."

The two fighters exchanged glances, and with a quick shrug, Rikuto wrapped the bandages around his wounds.

"And you do the same for your legs," said Secter, pointing to Mei's bent tibias.

With some hesitation she did so, and gasped in amazement as her legs reformed back to their old shape instantly after being wrapped in the gauze. Rikuto shrieked in delight as he took off his own bandages to find the cuts completely gone.

"Thanks, stranger," said Rikuto. "What's your name?"

"Secter."

"Thank you Secter, we won't forget this," said Mei. "Honey, let's go, I need to take a rest."

"Oof, me too," said Rikuto. "That was a rough one."

"Hold on a sec," said Secter, sliding in front of the two. "Just wait right there, I got some questions for you."

He dashed over to where the final fighter was, who was nursing the bruises on his forearms.

"Used em to break your fall eh?" asked Secter. "Wrap some of this around everything that got hurt. It'll fix it up real quick."

The man reached out to take what was left of the bandage roll from Secter. He was just as amazed as the others at the gauze's effects.

"And great job out there," said Secter. "Keep it up."

Another dash, and he was right back to the couple, who blinked to make sure he was really in front of them.

"So," said Secter. He clapped his hands together. "You two are heroes, right?"

"Yes," said Rikuto. "I am…"

With a shout that rivaled the enormous crowd not too far away, Rikuto leapt into the air, his boulder of a flail swinging around his head.

"Flail Fighter!" he shouted.

"And I am…" said Mei.

She too leapt into the air, and for the briefest of moments, was together with her husband at the same height. She flipped her chains around her, which swirled and snapped like mystical snakes.

"Chain Wisdom!" she shouted.

The two of the fell back to the ground, and Mei gave a small wince at the impact.

"Very nice," said Secter. "Power duo, I can appreciate that."

"We're B-class heroes, but we do our job," said Rikuto.

"You're B-class," said Secter. "And the guy over there?"

"C-class," said Mei. "Definitely weaker."

"Ah," said Secter. "And the flashy dude? The one with all the screamers?"

Rikuto gasped while Mei scrunched her face in utter disbelief.

"That's…that's Flashy Flash," said Rikuto. "You don't know him?"

"Very famous," said Mei. "Very strong."

"Why aren't either of you getting any admirers?" asked Secter. "That monster was clearly outmatching the whole lot of you!"

"Yes well, you kind of answered your own question there," said Rikuto. "We try our best, but all heroes do. Those who are strongest, well, they tend to get the attention."

"Yes, but you nearly died out there," said Secter. "But you didn't care! You kept fighting just to hold the monster off for a bit longer. Don't people know that's what heroism really looks like?"

"Well," said Mei. The two of them were rubbing their necks now, with Rikuto looking around for some sort of an escape.

"I don't mind not getting as much attention," said Rikuto. "As long as people are safe."

"That's fine," said Secter. "Noble, actually. But… they're completely ignoring you. Acting as if you weren't even there!"

"Well, you know," said Mei. "Maybe one day we will be stronger, and get the same treatment. I try not to worry about it."

"Jesus fucking Christ," said Secter. "These people don't know what they have, do they? Don't worry, I can fix this."

"No, no!" said Rikuto. "Really, it's fine. No one wants our autographs anyways."

"It's not just the autographs," said Secter. "You two need some encouragement. Trust me, if you don't think that people even slightly appreciate what you're trying to do, it'll drain on you."

He began to head towards the crowd, his head held high and his purpose clear as a mountain stream.

"No!" shouted Mei from behind him. "Not while Flashy is right there!"

"It's fine!" said Rikuto. "We still get autographs from time to time!"

 _Why is it always autographs?_ thought Secter. _I just want some people to recognize those who suffered to protect them._

Secter reached the crowd, and started to raise his voice.

"Listen everybody, if I could just get your attention for a moment," he began. "There's a few heroes over there who fought real hard to keep you safe, and I think they deserve your appre-"

He turned to gesture to them, but no one was there. Looking back at the crowd, he noticed not a single person had so much as even given him the time of day anyways. Dropping his arm as if it had gone completely numb, Secter shuffled his way back home, his shoulders slouched down. On the way he noticed the third hero, Ori, collecting himself and his hammer as he began to depart. Ori gave Secter a little nod as he clambered on top of a tiny blue bike, and mouthed a couple words at him.

"It's work."

Secter shook his head, his gaze falling to the ground.

 _No,_ he thought. _It's more._

 _. . ._

"Are you here for the hero testing?" asked a man in a white tracksuit.

"Not really, just here to observe," said Secter.

The tracksuited man exchanged an uncomfortable glance with another trainer a few feet away before turning back to Secter.

"Ordinarily, we wouldn't let people watch these tests," said the trainer. "Gives you a bit of an unfair advantage. But, since we've been having some competition lately, I think the HA will let you at least sit in for the physical training. To get you interested at least."

He eyed Secter up and down.

"Yeah, you look like you could fight a monster or two," said the trainer. "Nothing above tiger though. But who knows, maybe you could prove us wrong."

"Just here to watch," said Secter.

"What's your name, by the way?" asked the trainer.

"Secter. I'm gonna look for a place to sit."

"Go ahead."

Secter entered a gymnasium, where a motley group of heroes were all going through various exercises. The running and lifting tests had mixed reactions. A few sped through the finish line with ease, while a couple of others had to be brought trash bins by the end. During the lifting test, one of the trainees had his arms start to bend behind him as he screamed his way to lifting some dresser-sized weights. He slammed them to the ground behind him, before slinking down onto the floor. A couple of medics ran over to him, but he waved them away, his arm twirling in a spiral motion as he did so. A few seconds later, he was lying in a stretcher over by the doors. Most of the other wannabe heroes had no trouble with the lifting, save for those who collapsed after meeting their goals. Secter almost bolted out of his chair at the sight of one of the trainees collapsing to the floor and hyperventilating, but dirty looks from the trainers and the quick presence of medics brought him back to his seat.

By the end of it, an exhausted party of heroes sat at the end of the gymnasium, some with looks of utter dejection on their faces. Others seemed as if they were about to keel over, but sparks of optimism shone through their eyes.

But, as Secter thought, the other group, the one who breezed past the testing, was standing on the opposite side of the gym, laughing and talking it up with the trainers. Clipboards were exchanged, hearty guffaws were issued, and smiles were all around. These people had won.

 _It makes sense,_ thought Secter. _Obviously some people aren't going to be as capable as others. But they're not even bothering to talk to them! Don't they see these people, who took time out of their lives to train and come here knowing that they would struggle? Who knew that they would be half-dead by the end, but kept going anyway? Those on the other side of the gym, the smiley ones, they knew this would be a piece of cake, and good for them. But there was no struggle for them. No determination. Nothing to be overcome. Sure, they can be encouraged. But the people who had to fight hard to even be here, those are the people we should be encouraging. Those are the people that are closest to the regular populace, that serve as a gateway for others to become heroes. People will look at those smilers and think, man, I'll never be able to be like them. But the others…_

He gave a worried glance at the dilapidated survivors at the end of the gym.

 _They are what give people hope._

Secter paused for a moment, his face becoming incredulous.

 _Wait. Why I am thinking all this? I should be telling them this! At least I can offer some words, even if it doesn't mean much!_

He got up, his body shaking with passion as he strode towards the gasping group. As he approached, a couple of the trainers slid forward to block his way.

"Sorry sir, you're going to have to leave," said one of the trainers. "HA contacted us, and doesn't want anyone to sit in on the training. Our mistake."

"I just want to talk to them," said Secter, pointing a finger at the group.

"Then do it after," said the trainer. "Can't have anyone thinking you're going to help them on the written test or something. Now please, get out of here, before we bring the others in." He jerked a thumb at the laughing group.

Secter's eyes narrowed, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

"Fine," he said. "But only because it could make some of them look like they are cheating. They don't deserve something like that, not after all they went through."

He left the gymnasium, just as consternated as when he went in. The skies were getting dark now, and only a few streetlights illuminated his path as he went along. A bright neon outline of a beer bottle caught his eye, but he decided to keep walking.

A shriek brought him to attention. Not far from where he stood. Secter turned to listen, and was rewarded with the piercing wail of a woman. He dashed towards the sound, and within seconds, was upon what looked like an eight-foot-tall tick, antennae twitching as it crept up to a woman cowering against a building wall.

"I'll drink you dry!" it howled. "There's no way out!"

"Help!" shouted the woman. "Heroes! Anyone!"

Secter reached out and tapped the creature on the shoulder, and winced when it faced him.

 _Yup,_ he thought. _Tick._

"Oh?" asked the tick. "What do we have here? Another victim?"

"You were going to kill this woman?" asked Secter. He raised an eyebrow.

"All her blood, all mine," said the tick. "She is doomed. And now, you are too!"

Secter snatched the creature by the shoulder, and flung it several feet into the air, twisting his hand as he did so. The tick turned into a twirling black football as it hovered in the sky for several seconds, only to come crashing down onto Secter's raised foot. His kick obliterated the insect, sending bits and pieces streaming into the streets nearby.

"Oh my God," said the woman. "You did it. Thank you!"

"Ah, don't sweat it," said Secter. He waved the woman away with a flick of his hand.

"You must be a hero, right?" asked the woman. "What class?"

"I guess I am?" asked Secter. "And no class, I'm not with the HA yet."

"Ah," said the woman. "What's your name?"

"Secter. Best of the best. But, you know, not really. Kind of like an 8 out of 10 or so, depending on my mood."

"Well, thank you anyways, stranger," said the woman. "I'll be heading out now."

"I'll be around," said Secter. "Try not to run into any more oversized insects. Especially ticks…eugh. You ever seen what those things become after they stick to dogs for too long?"

"Ah, it's no problem. Even if I do, they'll probably be disaster level wolf like that one was. Somebody will get it real quick."

"Wait," said Secter. "Wolf? Disaster level wolf?"

"Oh yes, that one was wolf. Nothing to be too proud over."

Secter's mouth began to gape open, and he couldn't find the power to keep it shut.

"Well… I'm just happy to get you away from it, that's all," he said.

"And I thank you for that," said the woman. "It's a big step for you if you're a new hero! Just remember, it was just a wolf, so don't go and try anything too crazy."

"Is everything about classes for you people?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing," said Secter. "Just head on home."

"Oh," said the woman. "Well, alright. Thank you mister…uh…"

"Secter."

"Secter, right! What a strange name. Well, see you around!"

She skipped her way out of view, leaving a dumbfounded Secter behind in the alleyway.

"Guess you're used to this stuff huh," said Secter. "That's not a great way to live. Even still…"

 _Couldn't even remember my name after saving her?_ he thought. _I mean, I don't really care if my name gets spread around, but you'd think people would take that more seriously. And wolf? I shouldn't be that proud of beating a wolf? The hell does that mean? It wasn't really hard for me, but she didn't necessarily know that. And besides, it shouldn't matter! The only thing that matters is that she's ok! What's with all this unnecessary bullshit?_

Heading home, Secter made his way through his front door and into the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of black liquid from a cabinet and drowned his confusion with the bile which burned his throat and muddled his mind.

. . .

He was out early by his standards, people just starting to fill up cafes and restaurants as the sun hung high in the sky. After seeing a poster for an upcoming event at the HA Headquarters Secter made his way past the rush to get to the Hero Association building. It was busier this time around, with people setting up tables and a podium being carried to a makeshift stage by two people in suits. Secter watched them set up, until a familiar voice brought his gaze elsewhere.

"Ugh, don't even know why they do this," said Tatsumaki, who was walking with her sister past some of the tables. "They know I'm not going to show up for it."

"Not many do," said Fubuki, who didn't bother to even look at her sister. "Some just think it's nice."

"I don't need a speech to know I'm appreciated," said Tatsumaki. "People know what I'm capable of. They can appreciate that."

Fubuki said nothing, her gaze affixed ahead.

"But who knows?" asked Tatsumaki. She gave a wry smile up at her sibling. "Maybe one day, you'll even be invited to this event."

"You…you think so?" asked Fubuki.

"You almost impressed me back at the prison," said Tatsumaki. "That is, until you joined back with that group of idiots. Once I get you back on track, you might just have a shot."

"I'm not leaving the group," said Fubuki. "And they're not leaving me. I already told you that."

"Whatever you say. And how many days has it been, exactly? Five, six, since you last saw them? You know it's going to stay this way, you just don't want to admit it."

"I'm just tired," said Fubuki. "I'll get better."

"Not with me around," said Tatsumaki. "You go where I say. It's for the best."

"I don't mean to butt in," said Secter, leaning one elbow on a table between the sisters and him. "But what exactly is going on here?"

"The hell are you?" asked Tatsumaki. "Wait. I know you. You're that wannabe hero, right? From a couple days ago?"

"Secter," he said.

"I couldn't care less," said Tatsumaki. "I almost forgot that I was going to kill you, although to be honest, I nearly forgot about your existence. By the way, are you in a class yet?"

"I'm not joining the Hero Association," said Secter.

"Oh?" said Tatsumaki. She began to chuckle, soft yet vicious. "So you chickened out then, eh? Understandable. I must've scared you off. But of course, that just means I'm doing my job right. No one who can be scared that easily even deserves so much as C-class."

"Oh I'm still a hero," said Secter. "Just not in the HA."

"Really?" asked Tatsumaki. "So you really are that big of a coward."

"Saved a woman yesterday," said Secter. "I guess that counts."

"From what?"

"Tick."

"What level, dumbass."

"Wolf or something."

Tatsumaki burst out laughing, slapping her hand down onto the table that Secter was leaning on. He stood up straight, his face full of irritation.

"Oh my God," said Tatsumaki. "A heroic wonder over here, bragging about killing a wolf. Bravo. Good job. God, how weak can you get? You're really the lowest of the low."

"I'm not bragging about anything," said Secter. "Just wanted everyone to be ok."

"That's nice," said Tatsumaki. "Now get out of my sight, your presence is starting to irritate me. Hell, you shouldn't even be here, you're ruining the atmosphere with your being here."

Secter looked over at Fubuki, who had sat down in a nearby chair. Her eyes were glazed over, and sweat had begun to form around her temples.

"She your sister, right?" he asked her.

Fubuki nodded.

He turned back to Tatsumaki, whose eyebrows were raised in a quizzical stance.

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" asked Secter. "Just because you're supposedly at the top, doesn't mean you need to put everybody down. We can all make our ow-"

A table flew directly into Secter's face, seemingly from out of nowhere. Shards of wood bolted across the room, and suited workers dove for cover as the table fell apart.

Tatsumaki sneered as the wood obliterated itself around Secter.

"Serves you right," she said. "Don't you know who you're talking to? Now you'll know better, next time you-"

Secter wiped the pieces of wood off of him and thrust the table aside. Tatsumaki eyed him up and down, then frowned as she failed to spot even a minor cut.

"Lucky," she said.

"I like to think I'm pretty force resistant," said Secter. "But that proves it. Yep. You're a piece of shit."

Three tables smashed into Secter from all directions, colliding in a teepee around him as wood connected with arms, back, and chest.

"What did you just say?" asked Tatsumaki. "You fucking asshole. You better apologize right now, before I send you through the floor."

"Sis, just stop," said Fubuki. "This is way too low for you. He's not even ranked."

Tatsumaki sighed.

"You're right," she said. "You're right. Not worth my time. This cretin doesn't even know his place."

"He's no Saitama," said Fubuki. "Just because he can stand a couple tables…"

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. "Don't even mention his fucking name. Gives me a headache every time I hear it. So goddamn embarrassing."

"Still behind the tables," said Secter.

He threw the table in front of him away, watching as it slid across the floor.

"Really a waste," he said. "Those are some quality tables."

He tossed the others away from him, only to have them stop in midair by Tatsumaki's raised finger. Turning to look at the floating platforms, he noticed that one of them was only a few inches away from a cowering worker.

"Aren't you watching what you're doing?" asked Tatsumaki. "You could've hurt someone, idiot."

"It wasn't gonna-" began Secter.

The tables dropped.

"No," said Tatsumaki. "I'm done with you. Let's go sis, I'm starting to get a headache again."

"Fine," said Fubuki. "No more throwing things."

"Tell him that," said Tatsumaki. "He's the one endangering people."

"You're literally the one who started the violence in the first place," said Secter. "And I don't know if you know, but…" He bent down, just so his head was craning over Tatsumaki. "I take things like that very seriously."

Tatsumaki smirked.

"What, is this supposed to be a threat?" she said. "You've already gotten a beating, don't make me kill you."

"Go for it," said Secter.

"Do you have a fucking death wish?" asked Tatsumaki. "You're starting to piss me off, and trust me-" She began to float, rising higher and higher until she was above Secter's head. "You really don't want to do that."

"Sis, please, knock it off," said Fubuki. "He's a dumbass, he doesn't know what he's doing."

"There's an odd amount of hostility and insecurity in here for a couple of heroes," said Secter. "Not really what one thinks of when someone says the word hero."

"Are you doubting me?" asked Tatsumaki. "Saying that's not what I am?"

"Actually, no," said Secter. "I just think you're an asshole. Sorry, _know_ you're an asshole. No one that strong would be so worried about the opinion of a stranger. And by strong, I mean…"

"Stop," said Tatsumaki. "I don't care what you mean. You implied it yourself, I am strong and you are not. Now get out of my sight before I really hurt you."

"I'm more worried for the workers, really," said Secter. "And your sister, she looks like she's dying. You ok over there?"

"She doesn't need your sympathy!" yelled Tatsumaki. "She can handle it on her own!"

"Handle what?" shouted Secter.

"Nothing!" screamed Fubuki. "Sis! Home! Now!"

Tatsumaki floated to the ground, quickly as a snowflake might drift into the dirt.

"Fine," she said. "Can't believe you let me get so riled up about this."

"I told you…" said Fubuki. "That…we should…" She swallowed, the saliva being forced down her throat in a mighty effort. "Go…"

"Seriously, are you ok?" asked Secter. "You look sick."

"Fine…" grumbled Fubuki. "Now…fuck…off."

Secter flashed his hands in defeat.

"Fine," he said. "But we're not done here."

"Oh yes we are," said Tatsumaki. "As far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me. _Hero_." She scoffed. "As if. You're nothing more than a coward afraid of commitment, can't even pass the hero test so he won't take it."

"We'll see about commitment," said Secter. "And the test is different, I don't like the way the HA is treating its people."

Tatsumaki was already dragging her sister out through the front door, likely not even hearing Secter's last sentence.

He dropped his arms to his sides, and noticed one of the workers had come up to him.

"Can you believe those two?" he asked. "They're crazy, nearly destroying everything-"

"Sir, who exactly are you?" asked the worker. "Are you supposed to be here?"

More incredulity from Secter.

"Well, not necessarily, I just wanted to see the event setup," he said.

"I think you should leave," said the worker. "You already angered some of the most valuable members of the association, and are causing a mess."

"I-" started Secter. But it was no use. He shook his head and left the building. Eventually he made his way back home and collapsed down on his bed, still annoyed over the day's events. That night, as he struggled to sleep, he reflected on what he saw. Angry espers and floating tables missing a poor man's head by inches.

. . .

 _Whole lotta bullshit where there shouldn't be,_ thought Secter. A ceiling fan spun lazily above, its blades reflecting the light coming through the windows.

 _Whole lotta problems where they shouldn't be. But I can fix this. Right? Right. I got this one. No failures here._

He tossed a tennis ball into the air, watching it bump into the fan before having it find its way back into his palm.

 _Of course, it'll take a while. People gotta start seeing this whole hero thing in a different light. There's people putting their lives on the line for God's sakes. Hell, those three the other day, I'm shocked they got away from the fight alive. Not that I would've let them die, but still._

Another throw, this one a bit higher.

 _And all those top tier, what are they called, S-class? They'll be shown that the lower classes need their share of appreciation too. Morale, people. It's important._

Higher.

 _And those two sisters, Christ, the problems they have. I'm almost tempted to mind search em further to see what's really going on, but it's a bit intrusive. I'll find out myself, and maybe I can fix things between them too. And that Tatsumaki bitch, she…_

He caught the ball.

 _She's not really that bad, is she? She did stop the table from getting to the worker. Even still, if she's that horrible and controlling all the time, no wonder Fubuki looked like she wanted to kill herself. What was she again, S-class rank 2? Yeah, that's it. So second strongest. Doesn't really matter to me._

Another toss, but the ball didn't even reach half the height it did earlier.

 _And if I make mistakes, that's ok. Mistakes are fine. It won't be perfect, helping people never is. Just no failures. No sir, not here. Can't have another one, nope, nope, nope…_

One last toss, barely even leaving his hand.

 _God dammit Secter, get your head in the game. The last couple places were flukes, didn't even know em that well. This place though, you were born here. Might not remember it, but it's still your home. Your home…_

He sighed. Laying down on the bed, he stayed still for hours, thinking about the past, and about how disappointed he was with the present. By the time he managed to pick himself up from bed, the sun was high in the sky.

 _Seriously, already?_ thought Secter. _Need to start getting up earlier again…_

He grumbled to himself as he ruffled his hair in the mirror, and got everything ready to head out. Checking his stock of the black liquid left him sighing in annoyance.

 _Running low, ain't no way to get more at the moment. Wish I knew how to brew this stuff myself._

The door was pushed aside by his hand, and he straightened his jacket as he snuck his way towards the Hero Association building.

 _I get the feeling I already know who's going to comprise most of the guests,_ thought Secter. _Somebody mentioned something about competition, I wonder what that might be…_

Reaching the base of the building, Secter eyed a couple of suited guards standing outside, who in turn were watching several heroes stroll up to the front doors. A couple of the heroes were stopped by the guards, and seemed to be asking them something. The heroes produced some shiny id cards, and were allowed inside. Later, another hero did the same thing, but was denied entry.

Leaping to the top of the building, Secter slipped his way through a window and walked into an elevator, keeping his arms at his sides. When the elevator got to the second floor, he headed out through the open doors and slunk his way to the bottom floor, quickly finding an area away from the guards and the guests. A number of pro heroes were in attendance, some of whom were rubbing their eyes in their seats. Meanwhile, several executives were gathered at the nearby podium. A banner hung above the makeshift stage, which read:

HERO APPRECIATION DAY

Secter scowled at the sight. He sat towards the very end of the room, poorly lit by the dying lights enmeshed on the back wall. To his surprise, he saw Tatsumaki sitting towards the front, her face sour as she watched the executives fumble with papers and talk amongst themselves. He recognized Flash, and a few mind searches got him the names of all the other heroes in the room. All were S or A class.

"Ahem, um, excuse me," came one of the executives up at the podium. "We have a few things to announce before we get started."

"Get on with it," muttered Tatsumaki.

"In case anyone is wondering, we will be holding a day for B and C class heroes," said the executive. "Just to be at a different location."

No response from the crowd, many of whom weren't even looking at the stage anyways.

"And as you know, we called you here today," said the executive. "To let you all know how we appreciate your valiant efforts as heroes, and to address the growing concerns that many of you have about our association, and of course, the Neo Heroes too."

 _The hell is a Neo Hero,_ thought Secter.

"Have no worries, we have new plans to reshape our budget, and address many of the complaints the Neo Heroes have," said the executive. "I think you'll find our association to be of a higher caliber after this meeting…"

Secter's gaze turned to someone approaching from the side.

"Excuse me, who are you?" asked Flashy Flash, who stood only a foot away from where Secter sat.

"Secter," he said. Secter pulled his arms behind his head and leaned back in order to better relax. "Can I help you?"

"Never seen you around before," said Flash. "You A-class?"

"Nope."

"Well, you're certainly not S-class," said Flash. "I don't think you're supposed to be here."

"Well, I am a hero," said Secter. "By your standards anyways. And I certainly like feeling appreciated."

Flash's eyes grew dark, and a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, you think this is a joke," said Flash.

"No, it's very serious actually," said Secter. "If it wasn't, the executive up there wouldn't be stumbling over his words and pissing himself to keep you guys on board. They're doing this all wrong by the way, if my assumptions about the Neo Heroes are correct."

"Leave," said Flash. "I won't ask you again."

"You didn't ask the first time," said Secter. He began to slowly rock back and forth in his chair, his gaze being constantly blocked then unblocked by Flash as he moved. For a second, he spotted Tatsumaki by the opposite wall, pouring some punch into a cup. Her eyes shone for the tiniest of moments when she spotted what looked like caramel apples stacked in a plastic tray not far from the punch.

"What's her deal, by the way," said Secter. He pointed at Tatsumaki, who was snatching up one of the apples with glee.

"Hmm?" asked Flash. "That's Tatsumaki. She's not as strong as she looks."

"Oh? Are you saying you're more powerful?"

"With the right circumstances, I could beat her."

"Ok buddy."

Flash stomped his foot in frustration, and glared back at Tatsumaki. Unfortunately for him, she noticed. Her glare back was twice as intense, and Secter already began to regret what he had started.

"What?" she asked. "Are you being annoying again?" She walked closer to Flash, before stopping in place.

"What the hell is he doing here?" she asked. "The one in the chair."

"I don't know," said Flash. "He won't leave."

"I was mildly bored, but mostly concerned," said Secter. "Didn't like how things were going down here and decided to check it out. But, things have just been getting worse and worse as I go along."

"Then leave," said Flash, a confused expression on his face.

"I meant how people are obsessed with power and class here," said Secter. "It's dividing and poisoning everybody."

"Go," said Tatsumaki. "Away. Seriously, are you stalking me or something?"

"Actually I was hoping you wouldn't be here," said Secter. "And no, I've got no interest in you."

"How did you even get in here?" asked Tatsumaki. "And stop rocking that chair! It's pissing me off!"

"Wasn't that hard really," said Secter. "Someone let in a cool breeze."

"That's great," said Flash. "Now leave."

"Hang on," said Secter. "Flash, weren't you saying something about how you could beat Tatsumaki? Do you mean to say the system is flawed?"

"What," said Tatsumaki, more a statement than a question.

"Under the right circumstances," said Flash. "My technique is refined."

"Huh," said Secter.

"That's laughable," said Tatsumaki. " _Laughable._ But I don't have to prove anything to you, or anyone else. Everyone knows I could destroy you any day of the week."

Flash snorted at her. Tatsumaki responded by crushing her drink.

"No need to fight in here, I was just wondering what you thought," said Secter. "But in my opinion, it seems like an esper would defeat a swordsman."

"You know nothing about me," said Flash. "You're just some pathetic outsider."

"Whatever you say glass noodle soup," said Secter. "You can put me down all you want, just makes you look bad in comparison."

"Did – did you just call me a soup?" asked Flash.

It was Tatsumaki's turn to snort.

"Yeah," said Secter. "Because at first glance you might seem appealing, but then you find the noodles to be transparent and weak."

A blade cut through the air heading for Secter's scalp. Flash smiled something devious.

 _I won't cut him,_ thought Flash. _But I'll get close enough to scare him senseless._

As the blade moved, its edge invisible to those around it, it found itself buried in between several fingers. Flash jolted when he saw the results.

Secter held the blade trapped within two of his fingers, closed like a pair of scissors. The blade kept its original color, even where it collided with the skin.

"No," said Secter.

Flash pulled the blade back, his eyes turning into infernos of anger.

"This isn't my actual blade," he said. "That's why you caught it."

"You really are like a noodle," said Secter. "Wriggling and squirming under any sort of duress. But snaps real easy once the fork comes down." He frowned, before looking at Tatsumaki. "Does that make any sense?"

Secter couldn't read the expression on her face. She seemed as if she were elsewhere.

"Quit it, you two," came another voice from behind. Secter turned to face an old, yet intense man.

Flash withdrew his sword completely, his face burning with embarrassment. He headed back to his seat, to listen to the executive who apparently didn't see the whole thing.

"And who exactly are you?" asked Bang, who craned over Secter almost in an L-shape.

"Secter," he said.

"Class?"

"None."

"With that speed, you should think about joining," said Bang. "Impressive for a newcomer. Or even better, come join my doj-"

Bang stopped when he met Secter's eyes. The two of them stared at one another for a second before Secter gave a concerned look and turned away.

 _Something in those eyes,_ thought Bang. _He's certainly seen something. Something terrible._

Bang cleared his throat before continuing.

"Joining my dojo," he said. "Also a very valid option. I myself am retiring from the HA, but am having my last sendoff here."

"Good for you," said Secter. "Life well lived, it seems."

"Yes, yes," said Bang. "But it's not over of course."

"Right, right," said Secter, his voice a wee bit panicky. "Not really what I meant."

Bang chuckled.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "But you should consider joining up. Stopping an attack from Flash is a tremendous feat."

"A school or dojo would seem better than this organization," said Secter. "But I do have a lot of work to do."

"Suit yourself," said Bang. "My doors are always open."

"And your name?" asked Secter, although he already knew the answer.

"Bang," he said with a smile.

"Right," said Secter. "S-class."

" _Former_ S-class," said Bang.

"Of course," said Secter.

"You know, you remind me of a certain someone a little. Saitama is his name, or Caped Baldy for his hero name."

"That's a terrible hero name," said Secter. "Who picks these things?"

"The association."

 _Wow, this association really is terrible,_ thought Secter.

"Amazing," said Secter.

"Yes well, I'm done with all that," said Bang.

"Well, good luck to you," said Secter. "I wish you luck with your dojo."

"Thank you," said Bang. "Drop by sometime, maybe you can meet some other heroes more your level."

"Mmhmm," said Secter.

Bang began to walk away, but he gave Secter one last look as he did so.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Bang.

"Yeah?" asked Secter.

"I suggest you not anger Miss Tatsumaki," said Bang. "She has quite the temper."

"Among other things," said Secter. He blinked, almost startled to realize something. Turning to his side, he saw that the esper was nowhere to be found.

Looking back, Bang had already gotten back to his seat.

 _These people are fast,_ thought Secter.

He sat in the back the rest of the night, ignoring any glares that might come his way from Flash or any other hero. Whispers and murmurs floated through the room, and Secter caught phrases involving the words "sword" and "fast." Another popular one was "troublemaker."

. . .

"That's him, back there?" asked Bomb, who sat beside Bang at the event.

"That's him," said Bang. "The troublemaker."

"Not even in a class…"

"Doesn't seem like he's taken the test yet," said Bang. "Seems turned off by the idea."

"Can't say I blame him," said Bomb, as he leaned back in his seat. "Lot of people are these days."

Bang sighed, his brows furrowing at the bumbling executive above.

"I was hoping this to be more casual," said Bang. "A few drinks, perhaps just us S-class…"

"They're really trying to rein everyone in," said Bomb. "For legitimacy's sakes."

"I look forward to the after-meeting negotiations," said Bang. "I'm sure they have a lot to say to me."

"But you've made up your mind?"

"Of course."

"For the best."

"A new dawn for the dojo, I hope," said Bang. "Maybe the one in the back could be convinced to join as well."

"He has an awful serious look to him."

"He's not always serious," said Bang. "However…"

"Oh?"

"There's something behind his eyes, brother," said Bang. "Something dark. Something I haven't seen in a while."

"What is it?"

"Not entirely sure," said Bang. "But he seems more troubled than he appears. Worth keeping an eye on."

"Hmm."

"Well, I think this wraps up my time here," said Bang. "Let's go."

"Right behind you," said Bomb.

As he predicted, Bang was mobbed by suited people as he tried to leave. Begging, promising him all kinds of things if he stayed. Bang just kept walking, growing more and more tired at each suit he had to brush by.

. . .

Secter cursed himself at the sight of the sun, which was high in the sky as his sleep ended. He lifted himself out of bed, for once without a schedule of what to do for the day. Turning on the television did little to alleviate his boredom, and his mind kept swirling about thoughts regarding classes and people looking down on others.

 _How the hell do I even fix something like this?_ he wondered. _This is a systematic problem, could take decades to fix…_

"Ugh," he grunted. Secter pulled himself up from the couch, took a look in his refrigerator, and gasped in horror.

He found himself at the store next, dropping a frozen pizza into his basket and moving along with speed. As he walked, he spotted a man leaning over the meat section, white hair jutting straight upwards. Secter approached him, and Bang turned to face him, a smile appearing on his face.

"Hello there," said Bang. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ran out of food," said Secter. He raised his basket to show Bang proof of his statement. "Didn't feel like starving tonight."

"Well, don't even bother with any of that," said Bang. "Come to my dojo, we'll be making food after practice."

"What kind of food?" asked Secter.

"Dumplings, most likely," said Bang. "Come, it will be fun."

Secter took a deep breath.

"Alright, alright old man," said Secter. "You've convinced me. Give thanks to that winning smile of yours."

Bang chuckled.

"I hope you are ready for some light sparring," said Bang. "I'll see if I can get some friends on the phone."

"Sounds good to me," said Secter. "Uh, where exactly is your dojo?"

"I'll bring you there once I'm done," said Bang. "Or perhaps you want to drop off your groceries first."

"I'll do that real quick," said Secter. "What say, I meet you over by that Italian restaurant a few blocks down?"

"That works just fine," said Bang. He began to quietly hum to himself while picking out various meats.

 _Huh,_ thought Secter. _This guy's not as concerned about the whole class thing. Doesn't seem to matter to him, as long as I go to the dojo._

After he had dropped everything off at home, the two of them met at the restaurant and made their way to the unending staircase that led to Bang's dojo.

"A nice place you got here," said Secter. "Lotta stairs, but I suppose it's not too bad."

"A very nice place indeed," said Bang. "Lucky for us, I have an acquaintance of mine coming over. He should be able to teach some valuable lessons."

"Where is everyone?" asked Secter. "This place is empty."

"Dojo's fallen on hard times, I'm afraid," said Bang. "Been looking to find some new recruits, and you fit the bill."

"Ah," said Secter. "Well, not sure what you could teach me, but I'm all ears."

"You caught my attention with the little incident you had, plus sneaking into the Hero Association."

"Eh."

"It's no small thing that you did that," said Bang. He set the groceries down in a cordoned off section of the dojo, before stretching his back muscles outward. "No small thing at all…"

Bang's foot came flying at Secter like a missile, his wrinkles turning dark within the space of the dojo to give him a menacing appearance. Secter slid back, watching as Bang's foot missed his nose by a hair and collided to the ground.

"I take it you're the do first, talk later kind of guy," said Secter.

"Hmm," said Bang. "Very interesting. Very interesting indeed."

"You know, it's customary to tell a new trainee when the training is actually going to start," said Secter. "Otherwise, you're probably going to make them nervous and scare them off."

Bang laughed, the dark abysses that cut across his face becoming illuminated by the sinking sun.

"You're a bit of a teacher yourself, aren't you?" asked Bang. "And ah yes, but you don't seem the type to be scared off so easily."

"Oh?"

"I can tell by your face. Your eyes, mostly."

"Enlighten me."

Bang sighed. More humming issued forth from his mouth, pleasant and soft. He headed to the kitchen, and began to boil up some water.

"I will be having a student arrive soon, as will my acquaintance," said Bang. "Please, make yourself comfortable anywhere you like."

"It's a bit difficult to be comfortable knowing that an old martial arts master could attack me at any moment, but I'll…" Secter trailed off, and began to take a couple sniffs of the air. "Is that tea?"

"It is," said Bang. "Preference?"

"Holy shit," said Secter. His eyes, normally bagged and dark, began to light up at the smell. A small grin spread across his face. "You have no idea how long it's been since I had tea. Like, actual good tea."

Bang laughed again.

"Well, I'll do my best," he said. "And it's good to see you light up like that, you looked so tired before."

"To be fair, you aren't looking much better."

"Yes, but someone as young as you shouldn't look as old as I."

Secter pulled his lips together in a half-frown.

"Haven't been sleeping well lately," said Secter. "Happens."

"Sleep is important. Always work on that."

A fuzzy-haired man burst in through the doorways to the dojo, giving panicked glances to both a confused Secter and a humming Bang.

"Master Bang, I'm sorry I'm late!" shouted the newcomer, who wore a white gi.

"Not a problem, Charanko," said Bang. "Have a seat. We have a new recruit in today."

Charanko swiveled in place to meet Secter, his forehead doused with sweat.

"Stairs?" asked Secter.

"I am pleased to meet you, new recruit!" said Charanko. "I look forward to training with you later!" He gave a quick bow, almost toppling over in the process.

"Like the enthusiasm," said Secter. "Good way to get up in the morning."

"He's just a bit jumpy," said Bang. "Times have been rough recently."

"I appreciate you taking me back, sensei," said Charanko.

"Don't worry about it," said Bang. Letting out a small sigh, he brought over a pan of assorted tea cups to the two trainees, which Secter gave a smirk to.

"Enjoy yourselves," said Bang. "I'm in a good mood today."

"I will," said Secter. He downed the tea, not noticing Charanko's shocked stare. The burning liquid slid down his throat, and Secter's stomach turned into a warm ball.

 _Mmmm, needed that,_ he thought.

"Aren't you going to thank master Bang?" asked Charanko. "Show some respect!"

"Quiet down Charanko, there's no need to shout," said Bang.

"No, he's right," said Secter. "Got a bit excited about seeing the stuff. Thanks Bang, this was really what I needed today."

"Not a problem, not a problem at all," said Bang. "Say, why don't you two practice some moves while we wait for our third guest?

"Yes master Bang!" shouted Charanko. "I have some great new moves I wanted to show!"

A third entity arrived into the dojo. Unlike the others, his body glowed in cracks along his arms and chest, and he stared straight ahead, before taking a step into the building.

"Ah, Genos," said Bang. "Welcome."

"Master Saitama couldn't make it," said Genos. "He was busy."

"You told me that," said Bang. "Please, have a seat. Would you like anything?"

"No thanks," said Genos. He plopped down onto the ground, sitting crosslegged from where Secter was. "Why did you call us here today?"

"We have a new guest," said Bang. "And I thought it would be fitting for a nice meetup to celebrate my retirement to the dojo."

"Master Saitama is sorry he couldn't make it," said Genos. "But he was getting groceries."

"As a matter of fact, Secter and I were too," said Bang.

Genos looked up.

"Oh, pardon me," said Bang. He motioned to where Secter was sitting. "Our new recruit."

Genos turned towards Secter. The cyborg nodded.

"I don't recognize you," said Genos. "Are you a part of the Hero Association?"

"Nope," said Secter. "Don't like em."

"I see," said Genos. "In any case, I should be going. There wasn't much reason for me to come here without Saitama anyway."

"Wait, you just got here!" said Bang. "Why would you even show up if but for a second?"

"To give you Saitama's apology," said Genos. "That is all."

"Hold on," said Bang. "Just stay for a bit longer. There's something I want to see real quick."

Genos stood up, but refused to move from the spot. After a few seconds of silence, he gave another nod.

"I'll stay for a bit," said Genos. "Although I don't think there's much to be learned here."

"S-class?" asked Secter.

"I am," said Genos.

"Figures."

Genos narrowed his eyes at Secter.

"Can I try my new moves out now?" asked Charanko.

"Yes, yes, if Secter is willing," said Bang.

"Pssht," said Charanko. "Not the newbie. He's too easy. I meant Genos."

"You really think that you can stand up to me," said Genos.

"Yeah!" said Charanko. "Just watch! This'll be different this time!"

He readied himself, fists spreading out, feet planting themselves into the ground. Charanko's eyes closed, and his mind began to clear. All would soon slide into place for him, all he needed was an opening.

"I am waiting," said Genos.

 _Charanko has no chance, doesn't he?_ thought Secter. _That fucking stance makes him look like he's about to fall over. And Bang isn't interfering? Is there something I'm missing here?_

"Flowing water, smashing rock fist!" screamed Charanko. His fingers found themselves bent towards the ceiling after he slammed his hand into Genos's torso.

"Ah….ah," said Charanko. Tears poured from his eyes as he examined his limp fist.

"You've gotten weaker," said Genos. "Now it's my turn."

Genos reared back, and before Charanko could even raise his arms to defend himself, Genos uppercut his body through the ceiling and up into the air. Secter watched as ceiling tiles and drops of blood alike rained from above.

"This is a bit excessive, don't you think?" asked Secter, his eyes still peering up at the heavens. "I mean, I'm all for a tough lesson every now and again, but that man is going to need to go to the hospital now."

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Bang. "He'll be alright."

Charanko came crashing back through the ceiling, using his elbow to break his fall. He regretted this immediately afterwards.

"Agh!" shouted Charanko.

"It's over," said Genos. "I'm leaving now."

"Wait," muttered Charanko, his face still implanted into the floor. "Wait."

He stumbled as he rose again, but his face seemed higher than ever.

"My special move," said Charanko. "Didn't…get…to try it."

"Now is the time to give up," said Genos. "You have lost."

"Not yet," said Charanko. "River…of flowing…justice fist!"

Left hand swinging way back, Charanko sent it colliding into Genos's face. Genos stumbled a couple of inches from the impact. Charanko, on the other hand, sunk to the floor, his entire face a watery mess as he examined his second broken hand.

"I told you you should've stopped," said Genos. "Now your bills will be massive."

Charanko responded with a sob. Incomprehensible utterings issued forth from his mouth.

"Well," said Secter. "I don't mean to intrude, but it looks like Charanko's won here."

"What?" asked Genos. "He's clearly beaten."

"In the physical fight? Yes. But. Charanko here clearly knew he was outmatched, and yet he kept going. I think there's something to be said for that."

"He still lost."

Secter took a deep breath and sighed.

"Yes," he said. "But you're missing the point here. Charanko tried to fight you, despite the odds. And even kept going even though he knew he was beat. And I mean yeah, it got his ass kicked. But in regards to the battle of heroism, I think Charanko showed you a lesson today."

"What lesson is that?"

Secter strode forward to Genos, who was a few inches shorter than him. The two nearly came eye to eye.

"That the struggles of the weaker are not to be overlooked," said Secter. "In fact, they may be the most important and deterministic of all."

Bang studied Secter closely. Genos gave no hint of an expression.

"I see," said Genos. "But he still lost. And now, he has to go to the hospital."

"I can take him," said Secter. He reached down to try and lift Charanko, who by this point was lying on his side and blubbering uncontrollably.

"I will take him," said Genos. "I can get there faster." Genos swept up the mess that was Charanko in both arms, before squatting back and rocketing out through the hole in the ceiling. They were gone before the excess debris caused by Genos's exit even had the chance to hit the floor.

"I just refurbished this place," said Bang. "Well, so much for dumplings."

"Hang on now," said Secter. "Doesn't mean we can let those go to waste."

"Surely we can't eat this many between two people," said Bang.

"God created leftovers so that people like me could survive," said Secter. "I think we can manage somehow."

Hours passed, and Secter had a tub full of dumplings, and the largest, most stupid smile on his face.

"Well," said Bang. "I'm sorry that the training didn't end up being more enlightening for you."

"Eh, it was illuminating enough," said Secter.

"Perhaps come by again, and participate in an actual fight."

"We'll see."

"You said some interesting things back there," said Bang. "Not many concern themselves with that type of thing these days."

"It bothers me. Greatly. Makes no sense to me how people just ignore these things, and the heroes just go on with it."

"People are concerned with strength, of course," said Bang. "To be honest, the only reason why I offered for you to come to the dojo was because you showed promise at the meeting."

"I had a sneaking suspicion that would be the case," said Secter. "Let me guess, you thought I was strong, but unrefined? Needed to tune my technique?"

Bang laughed, but his face spelt trouble.

"Yes, yes, well. That is my job now after all. To take strong fighters, and refine them into great ones."

"Just make sure you take a close look at your definition of strong. If you get too many people like Flash or Tatsumaki, no one will ever try to become heroes. They'll think it impossible."

"Maybe we don't want every person to be a hero."

"But we certainly want everyone to be at least a little heroic," said Secter. "Back where I came from, I saw all sorts of people, those who sacrificed themselves for others, those who wanted to, and those who would leave you to die if it meant getting a flask of alcohol."

Bang raised an eyebrow.

"Where exactly are you from?" he asked.

Secter almost choked on the dumpling he started to munch on.

"Mmph," he said. "Just a rough area, is all."

"Seems like it," said Bang. "Well, it's getting late. I thank you for showing up to my dojo."

"And I thank you for the food and conversation," said Secter. "Most sane one I've had as of late, it seems."

"Well, when you focus on people like Flash and Tatsumaki, you tend to lose…focus."

Secter snorted.

"Yes, and brain cells," he said. "Well, I'll see you later, Bang. I think I have some work to do."

"You do that," said Bang. "And please, consider coming back to the dojo."

"Not sure how much there is to be learned here," said Secter. "But I'll consider it."

. . .

"A demon-level threat has been spotted in B-city," claimed the speaker on the television. "Civilians are advised to stay inside, heroes are on the way."

Secter opened up a drawer across from his kitchen table. Inside lay his revolver, similar painted a dull grey with yellow bits of light shining through several cracks on the barrel and body of the gun. Atop the barrel was a thin rectangular piece of metal, which almost cut through the top of the drawer as Secter pulled it out. He aimed towards the wall with the weapon, his eye peering down the sliver of steel at the top. Nodding in approval, he slid the weapon into a holster by his belt and headed outside.

It didn't take long to find the creature, a hulking stone beast with a lion's head for a face. Secter spotted it advancing towards a group of people huddling in a convenience store, its eyes shining and its tail thrashing about. The people inside were shouting and running from the windows. Some of them had collapsed to the floor and were crying, while the monster advanced with hunger in its eyes.

"Hey!" yelled Secter.

The rock-cat turned to face him. Claws began to extend out from the boulders that made up its paws.

"I take it you're not the type who can talk," said Secter.

The creature roared at him and began to tense itself. It fell back on its hind legs, getting ready to lunge.

"Didn't figure you could," said Secter.

He raised the gun up from his holster, and pulled the trigger. A beam of yellow light blasted forth from the muzzle, flying straight through the lion's face. When the light had finally vanished, the entire head of the creature was completely gone. What was left of the being's rocky body stood in place for a second, before crumbling into a pile of boulders and kicking up a storm of dust.

"Huh," said Secter. "Not bad."

He started to head away from the remains of the creature, before hearing someone running up on him. Turning around, he spotted a girl probably somewhere in her early teens examining the monster's corpse before walking over to him.

"I haven't seen you before," she said. "Are you a hero?"

"I guess you could say that," said Secter.

"Thank you for saving us," she said. "What is your name?"

"Secter," he said.

"What class are you?"

"None. I didn't join the Hero Association."

"Why not?"

"Because their rank system turns everyone against each other."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just look at almost any hero, they're all concerned with getting stronger and comparing themselves to people at the top. And getting stronger is important and all, but people become obsessed with it, and then only the strongest get any support."

"Are you strong?"

A lump formed in Secter's throat. For some reason, he hesitated before answering.

"I just want to help people," said Secter. "Make sure they don't get hurt. Sometimes it will be easy, sometimes it won't. I'll try nonetheless."

"Well, you did it today," she said.

Secter put his hands on his hips, a smile finding its way onto his face.

"Yeah, I guess I did," said Secter. "I can be great like that sometimes."

The girl started to wander off. The sound of a crashing building from nearby made her flinch, before she ran to hunker down behind the rocky remains of the monster.

Secter whipped around, his hand still on his gun. Where once stood a mighty skyscraper a few seconds ago, now was nothing. Running from the convenience store, he found himself at the scene of the crime. Ponds of blood were splattered and pooled over a giant area of rubble, the area of destruction almost a football stadium in size. Shattered glass and twisted girders adorned the ground, with bits of fur and slivers of corneas strewn along what was once a section of pavement. Secter scratched behind his head, before spotting Tatsumaki flying high above the wreckage. She seemed to have spotted him as well, for Secter could hear her exasperated sigh from a hundred feet below.

"You did this?" he shouted up to her.

Tatsumaki floated down to the ground, a grimace on her face as she watched Secter stumble through the rubble.

"I can't hear you from up there," she said. "And yes, I took care of everything."

"You missed the rock-cat," said Secter.

"The what?"

"Big lion made out of rocks. I got that one."

"Whatever. What, was it wolf-level?" A smirk came with this verbal jab.

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Fine then," said Tatsumaki. "And stop following me."

"For the love of God," said Secter. "Not everything is about you. And I can assure you, the only reason I came over here was to check up on the crashing I heard."

"So you had a death wish."

"Not really. Actually, I think I'm getting pretty good at this hero stuff."

Tatsumaki sneered at him. Everything, from her expression to the way she recoiled from where Secter stood, acted as a weaponized bastion of disgust.

"Damn," said Secter. "You really hate me, don't you?"

"I hate anyone who thinks they're better than they really are."

"I'm pretty great," said Secter, a cheesy smirk coming with this phrase.

"You're worthless."

"Killed a monster."

"So?"

"Means that less stuff got destroyed, and no one got hurt by it."

"It was a fucking wolf!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Tiger at best! That's nothing to be proud of!"

"Neither is demolishing about thirteen buildings with your shitty powers," said Secter. "But look at you."

"I'm going to fucking kill you," said Tatsumaki. "That's it. You're dead."

"This is like the third time you've threatened to kill me," said Secter. "It's getting old. Besides, you sure you're a hero with all those threats and shit?"

"Of course I'm sure!" said Tatsumaki. "I'm just good at putting people in their place."

She began to fly upwards, her eyes glowing a dull green color. Secter noticed that some of the rocks around him were beginning to fly up with her.

"If you can stand this," said Tatsumaki. "Maybe you'll be ready to be an actual hero. And not just some worthless junk who won't take the hero test."

Secter crossed his arms at the rocks flying around him. Above, Tatsumaki spread her arms and fingers wide, and the sun itself began to be blocked out by the massive cluster of debris that started to form in front of it.

"And my sis isn't here to save you," she said. "There's no getting out this time. That is, unless you want to admit defeat, or maybe even run away? I would if I were you."

"Speaking of which, how is she?" asked Secter. The overhead amalgamate of rocks, steel, and monster guts began to move until it was centered over Secter's head. He kept his eyes on Tatsumaki, as if oblivious to the fact.

"Why do you care?" asked Tatsumaki. "You don't even know her."

"She seemed sick the last time I saw her," said Secter. "Figured I'd ask."

"She doesn't need your sympathy. She can handle everything on her own."

"Doesn't hurt to have some help every now and again."

"There's no help for you."

The cluster came smashing down onto Secter, exploding and sending sharpened rocks flying in all directions.

 _Holy shit, she actually did it,_ thought Secter as he materialized away from the impact a few meters away. He observed the explosion from behind a nearby building. _That massive piece of shit._

Tatsumaki smirked at the work she had done. Crossing her arms as she floated high up above, she looked for any trace of the good-for-nothing man.

 _Surely if he can catch Flash's blade, he could've escaped most of that collision,_ she thought. _And if he didn't, he could probably endure it. A trip to the hospital is in the cards for him though. Then he'll think twice about calling himself a hero and trying to stand up to me._

She peered over the wreckage, but there was no sign of Secter.

"Eh?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Landing back down, she strode over to the impact. Streaks of blood adorned the rocks which made up the new pile of rubble she had made, and she moved a few of the rocks with her mind as she looked for any signs of a body.

 _I think that's just monster blood,_ she thought. _Where the hell is he?_

"You piece of shit," said Secter, stepping out from behind his hideaway.

Tatsumaki jumped up from the wreckage.

"What the?" she exclaimed.

"You're a fucking moronic asshole," said Secter. "To think, I actually held some respect for you since you were at the top, but now I see how it is. You're just a sad, pathetic bastard who'll threaten anyone she doesn't consider to be legitimate."

"You asshole!" yelled Tatsumaki. "You were hiding the whole time! Making me think that I had killed you!"

"Was that not your plan?" asked Secter. He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It is now," she said. "Now you're fucking dead. I'm done playing around with you."

"Same here," said Secter. "I'm going home."

His back came into Tatsumaki's view. She began to grind her teeth together, and could feel little bits of film scrape off the tops of them. It only made her angrier.

"Get the fuck back here!" she yelled. "You don't get to ignore me!"

"Shut up," said Secter. "Shuuuut the hell up."

Something collided with Secter's spine, shattering into pieces all around him. Secter straightened up in response, and gave a nasty look behind him just in time to see another section of a building get thrown into his face. It too collapsed into pieces around him, throwing dirt and rubble into his eyes. Blinking at the impact, Secter braced himself for another projectile but instead spotted Tatsumaki high above him, her face strained as if she were being pulled apart by an invisible force.

"You're…as heavy…as Saitama!" she shouted.

"Did you really think I was gonna let you lift me?" asked Secter. Chuckles punctuated the pauses between his words. "You must be crazy."

"Let you?" asked Tatsumaki. " _Let you?_ "

"I'm not going anywhere but home," said Secter. "You can fuck right off." He pointed a finger at the general direction of A-city.

"This can't be happening," said Tatsumaki. "Not again. Not…not with someone like _you._ "

"Again? Did you get into a fight with this Saitama guy too? What is wrong with you?"

"No. No. I can easily hurt you. I can destroy you. I don't know why I can't lift you, or why those boulders did nothing, but you're nothing to me. You haven't even taken the test! You're fucking nothing!"

"I don't need to take a test to prove my worth," said Secter. "Came up with that this morning." He pointed a finger gun at the floating menace, and dropped his thumb as if it were the hammer.

"I don't care what you think you're worth," said Tatsumaki. Bits of froth began to muster forth from the edges of her mouth. "I just want you to die."

"And I want you to fuck off," said Secter. "And you won't, for some reason."

"Not until I hurt you. Not until I prove that you are nothing to me."

"You already proved that. But seriously, if you're worried that I pose some kind of a threat to you, then why keep fighting? If you keep throwing shit at me when I go closer to home, you're just gonna risk hurting people. Plus, people are gonna see how useless those attacks are against me, as opposed to now when there's no one around."

"You're not going home," said Tatsumaki. "And I'm not hurting anybody but _you._ "

"I am. Watch me."

The next minute saw Secter striding down the street, with a grunting and snarling Tatsumaki overhead. Secter could feel a force struggling to pull him back to where the initial area of destruction was, as if a wall of hands were all trying to push him back down the street. But he kept walking, and civilization was starting to come back into view.

"This is impossible!" screamed Tatsumaki from above. "Fuck! Not…not again!"

"That's what happens when you mess with the all-powerful Secter," he said, grinning like an idiot. "You know, maybe you should-"

He stopped when he looked back up at Tatsumaki, whose forehead was coated with blood. She was staring down at her hands, both of which had turned scarlet from where she had tried to smear the blood away.

"Push yourself too hard?" asked Secter. "Or is that some old injury?"

"Just shut up," said Tatsumaki. "Shut the fuck up."

"Oh look, now you have an excuse as to why you couldn't hurt me."

Nothing from Tatsumaki. She continued to stare down at her hands, before wiping away at the blood on her forehead again. When it kept flowing, she let out a small gasp.

Secter frowned. Suddenly winning over Tatsumaki tasted a bit less sweet.

"Why not land for a second," said Secter. "Avoid using any powers for a bit."

"I know my limits!" she yelled. "I'm not even close to done!"

"Just go home Tatsu," said Secter. "Get yourself cleaned up. No one knows what happened here."

"I'll know. And worse, you think you're better than me."

"I know I'm better than you, but not in the way you think. Well, somewhat better. I'm…not as much of an asshole at least."

"You're pathetic."

"Ah, whatever." Secter waved Tatsumaki away. "Just land for a sec, we can talk like two adults. You are like twenty-eight, right? Think the billboard said that."

"Yes!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Fucking hell."

She kept wiping at her forehead, but it wasn't enough to staunch the flow of blood. With a growl, she bent over forwards. As she did so, the nearby buildings, devoid of any lights within them, bent with her. Defying all laws of physics, the concrete that made up the structures stretched and folded over like clay, before finally snapping from the tension and leaving a couple of floors standing alone in their wake.

"And there goes millions of dollars in property damage," said Secter. "The hell was that for?"

"I told you I could still do it," said Tatsumaki. "Not at my limit."

"I don't know why you're trying to prove this."

"Because you are weak and I…" Tatsumaki burped and her hands flew to her mouth. Her cheeks swelled up for a second, before a mighty swallow let them return back to normal. Eyes looking dim, she gave the last ounce of her energy to glaring at Secter as opposed to finishing her sentence.

"You…" said Secter.

"Are stronger," said Tatsumaki. "I! I am stronger!"

"Almost got you there," said Secter.

"Fuck you."

"Just go home, Tatsumaki."

"Ugh." Tatsumaki floated back down, her head turning a dull red color as the blood caked itself into her hair and scalp. Little cracks could be seen beneath the dried blood, and Tatsumaki rubbed at her mouth with her palm, before spitting out a lumpy gob of liquid on the ground.

Secter took a step away when she did so, his eyes trained on the spot where it landed.

"You sure you're ok?" asked Secter.

"Why…do you…care," said Tatsumaki. "Just fuck off."

"You're done trying to kill me?"

Tatsumaki's eyes flared up again, and her fists clenched. She reached out to a nearby rock and used it to steady herself. Breathing looked like it had become a matter of life or death for her, every exhale sharp and full of stutters.

"I'm not at my best," she said. "If I was, I could kill you in seconds."

"And there it is," said Secter. "Excuse of the day, ladies and gentlemen."

"There's no one else here!"

"I know, that's just how I talk."

"I hate you. More than anyone else. More than Saitama."

"Nah, you'll forget about me by tomorrow."

"No," said Tatsumaki. She began to grin, and Secter grimaced at the sight of rows of red teeth. "I won't."

"Well, for the time being, let's call it quits," said Secter.

"Ok then," said Tatsumaki. "I'll just go and get myself some rest."

"Yeah!" said Secter. "And get yourself something for those cuts, they look pretty deep."

"I will," said Tatsumaki. Had Secter focused more on Tatsumaki's grin, he would've noticed it shifting and grinding.

"Anything else?" she asked.

"Probably need to fix all this damage," said Secter. "No worries though, I can help with that."

"How thoughtful of you," said Tatsumaki. Every word came filtered through the stained squares of red and white that was her mouth.

"Yeah, I do my best," said Secter. "But you should go home now, get yourself cleaned up. If you need any help, well, you're not going to let me, but I have experience in treating wounds."

"That's nice," said Tatsumaki.

"Well, I guess I'll see you then."

"Yes. I think we both learned some valuable lessons here."

"Yeeeeaah," said Secter, his eyes narrowing. "I'm gonna leave now."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Tatsumaki.

"No?"

"Yes you are."

"What is it?" Secter leaned back, as if to brace for another rock.

"You're forgetting that you can't get home from space."

The ground underneath Secter shook and moved, before a chunk of concrete and steel ripped itself out from under him. Secter gasped at the sight, and at the thrusting of Tatsumaki's hands into the air, both him and the debris were sent flying into the sky at a breakneck pace. Wind and clouds alike rushed their way past Secter, and he stood rooted to the spot, on a rocketing platform that sped up through the air.

"Ha…ha," said Tatsumaki, watching as Secter became a dot that grew tinier and tinier as he was sent further into the stratosphere. "I might not've been able to lift you, but I can still lift what's around you!"

 _Should've thought of that with Saitama,_ she thought. _Maybe next time. Hell, getting a weird sense of déjà vu with this fight. At least this one won't be coming back._

Meanwhile, Secter stood atop the chunk of rubble, taking in the sights of the stars around him through furious eyes. He kept his arms crossed as the rocks began to slow down, and as the Earth began to come into full view, he shook his head.

 _Why did I not see that coming?_ he thought. _She was getting all friendly towards the end, I knew something had to be up. And yet I didn't fuckin move, and now look where I am. Can't believe that little fucker sent me up to space. God fucking dammit._

Back down below, Tatsumaki finally let out a vomit, and she groaned at the results. A splatter of blood, spit, and what was likely sushi formed an orange and red puddle directly in front of her. The smell alone made her start to gag again, and she forced back another rising tide of bile in her throat. Moaning to herself, she began to limp away from the battlefield, smiling despite her pounding headache and foul-smelling dress.

 _Can't believe I'm still hurt like this,_ she thought. _How have I not healed yet? Something like this won't do – I can't let Fubuki see that I've been hurt bad by that fight. I gotta figure out how to get this fixed, else everyone's going to think that I'm…_

Secter crashed down directly from above, springing into a roll as he landed to the ground and unfolding himself to block Tatsumaki's path. Tatsumaki jolted to a halt, her eyes bugging out of her skull as the man stood above her.

"You…you," said Tatsumaki.

"I saw the Sun, it was great," said Secter. "Really struggling not to clock you in the face right about now."

Tatsumaki took a couple of steps back. A rock caught in her heels as she moved and she fell over backwards. Her mind began to race. Surely this had to be a dream. Some kind of nightmare.

"This…this isn't possible," said Tatsumaki.

"Were you really gonna leave me to die up there?" asked Secter. "Because that's a dick move. A real dick move."

"You can't be back. This isn't real."

"It is. And you know it."

Tatsumaki swallowed, both to prevent another vomit and to try and clear her voice. She got back up, her entire body shaking.

"I…I can't handle this right now," said Tatsumaki. "Get out of my way."

"You look fucking terrible," said Secter. "Did you vomit on yourself? Just sad, really."

"Move."

"And those teeth, ugh, those teeth. Gonna need a whole new bottle of mouthwash to get rid of those stains."

"Move!"

"And to think, the world's second strongest hero couldn't even beat some nobody who isn't even ranked."

Tatsumaki felt like screaming. She felt as if the whole world needed to black out, if just for a second so that she might get away. This was worse than the last time, a living nightmare. At least Saitama was A-class.

She began to float, which made her head hurt even more. A dull, thudding pain sounded off from every corner of her skull, and she tasted more copper in her mouth.

"Just… go home," said Tatsumaki. "Not…at one hundred percent today. Fought…dragons before you."

"Uh huh," said Secter. He spotted Tatsumaki's face, one of pain and outright despair. But most of all, she looked exhausted, years of fighting tearing down on her eyes. While he wanted to stay and gloat more, something about her face made his chest hurt, a rising little pain that burned once it got to his heart. He felt bad for her, but still couldn't help wanting to punch her between the eyes.

"Tell you what, Tatsu," said Secter. "I'll get out of your way, and you promise not to come trying to kill me later, deal?"

"Whatever," said Tatsumaki. Her voice was zombie-like, her face no longer rising to meet Secter's. Tatsumaki's body was crouched over even worse than Bang's was on a normal day. She almost had her hands touching the ground. "And don't call me that."

"Call you what?"

"Tatsu."

"What do you want me to call you?"

"Nothing. Just leave me alone."

"Fine," said Secter. "You sure you don't need any help for anything?"

"I don't want you anywhere near me."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you later then."

Tatsumaki made a noise somewhere between a moan and a grunt. She hiccupped, and groaned again. Her breathing was even shallower now, with tiny gurgles punctuating her inhalations, and little rivers of blood streaming out from her mouth. The wounds at the top of her head had torn themselves apart again, and it was an open season of red all along her skull. Her dress smelled as if something had died on it, that had then been left there for a couple of days.

 _She's a wreck,_ thought Secter. _What the hell happened to her?_

 _If anyone sees me like this,_ thought Tatsumaki. _It's all his fault. I'll kill him. Rip the skin right off of him and tear his fucking head off._

 _She wants to tear my head off?_ thought Secter. _Ah shit, shouldn't be doing that._

Secter stepped aside, his expression blank as Tatsumaki continued her pathetic float past. She said nothing as she went.

As Secter made his way back home, he could see Tatsumaki in his mind, taking every back alley and side street she could in order to get back to her house. At one point, he could see a group of people heading her way, seemingly without her noticing. In an instant, he could've teleported there and directed the citizens somewhere else.

Secter pushed the door open to his house, and walked into the kitchen. He then helped himself to another bottle of black bile. Like Tatsumaki, he too would witness the contents of his stomach laid bare in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Secter was back at the grocery store the next day, heading straight for the coffee aisle. The world refused to stop spinning for him, and every sound amplified the pain in his head tenfold. Fumbling through instant coffee cups and grinds, he grabbed what looked best based purely on the rising urge to leave, but then left for the juice aisle.

 _Coffee,_ he thought. _Juice and eggs._

He couldn't read any of the juice labels, as his vision was too blurry. Instead, he stared at the cold lines of refrigerated juices, probably looking like an idiot to any passersby.

"Hey, you ok buddy?" came a voice from next to him.

Secter turned. A bald man stood beside him, adorned in a yellow jumpsuit with a white cape.

"Eh," said Secter. "Been better."

"Need to get that juice there," said the man. "It's the best price."

Secter coughed, which set his throat aflame.

"Really?" he squeaked.

"Yep. Just need you to move."

Apparently this was Saitama, according to a mind search.

"No problem," said Secter. He stumbled out of the way to allow Saitama through. A few feet away he grabbed a random jug of orange juice, and did his best to turn a long exhale into a pain alleviator. Relief only came for a moment, but the headache came rushing back. Secter started to leave, before stopping in his tracks.

"Wait," he said, mostly to himself.

He spun around, and to his delight, found that Saitama was still there, eyeing the label underneath the juice he had pointed out earlier.

"That's not right," said Saitama. "Did they get the wrong stuff?"

"You're Saitama, right?" asked Secter.

Saitama blinked at Secter, as if confused why Secter was still there.

"Uh, yes," said Saitama. "You've heard of me?"

"Through Bang," said Secter. "And your disciple. Who was rough on that Charanko guy, by the way."

"Eh, he'll be ok," said Saitama with a shrug. "He's seen worse I'm sure."

"Mmm," said Secter. Rubbing his forehead helped about as much as deep breathing did.

"They must have the prices wrong," said Saitama. "Guess I gotta ask now."

"Did you fight Tatsumaki once, by the way?" asked Secter.

"Yeah."

"Did her…" Secter gave a circular wave motion around his skull. "Head bleed?"

"It did. She got roughed up in a different fight a while ago."

"Oh, ok."

"Why, did you fight with her?" Saitama's eyes, at first devoid of expression, began to shine with interest.

"She attacked me," said Secter. "Supposedly after I pissed her off, but I think my existence pisses her off."

"Everybody's does. She's got some issues."

"Yeah, no shit."

Saitama went back to examining the juice.

"So, did you get hurt?" asked Saitama. "You seem a little out of it."

"Alcohol," said Secter.

"Ah."

"But no, not really. Even when she blasted me to space."

"You've been to space?" asked Saitama. "Me too! It's neat up there, isn't it?"

"Oh, I've been to space ma-" Secter paused and rubbed his forehead again. "Once or twice."

"I got launched up there by an alien," said Saitama. "But it was all good."

"I see."

A deeper mind search revealed the battle, with Saitama obliterating foe after foe in single strikes before defeating the commander of the ship. More exploration revealed almost every fight Saitama had to be this way. Shades of boredom were always present within him, even before a battle began, and Saitama looked the same whether he was about to fight a monster or scrutinize the price of some juice at the market.

"You're pretty strong, aren't you?" asked Secter.

"Yeah," said Saitama. "I guess."

"As in, really strong."

"Mmhmm."

"You've beaten most opponents easily."

"Yeeess," said Saitama, a skeptical air about him.

"But you're only A-class?" asked Secter.

Saitama shrugged.

"Ha!" said Secter. "Well, just more proof the system is broken."

"What system?"

"Hero Association. I don't like how it treats its people. Lower classes get no support, and then they get obsessed over power and class."

Saitama's attention began to turn from the juice, which was turning room temperature by this point, to the messy man standing over by the refrigerated peas.

"A lot of people are," said Saitama. "I don't really care."

"I do," said Secter. "This whole view, it poisons everything. And I'm gonna fix it, just not sure how."

"Well, good luck with that."

"Yeah."

Saitama sighed and went to put the juice back where it came from.

"You almost seemed bored with this whole situation," said Secter.

"Hmm?"

"With fighting monsters and everything," said Secter. "You seem bored of it."

 _Who the hell is this guy?_ thought Saitama. _Man needs to lay off the alcohol, his breath still reeks of it._

"I suppose," said Saitama. "Not a lot gives me a challenge these days."

"That should be a good thing."

"Eh, not when it's a hobby. Hobbies are supposed to be fun."

"And getting a challenge in a fight is fun?"

"It can be," said Saitama. "Beating my opponents easy all the time gets old."

"Meh," said Secter. "If I were ever in your position, I'd just be happy that I could save people so easily."

"Saving people is nice," said Saitama. "Assuming you even get the credit half the time."

"Bah, credit isn't necessary. Least not all the time. Heroes should obviously get some support, but they should also be prepared to save people without getting a ton of attention."

"Mmm. You seem very focused on this."

"I have some experience."

"You a hero?"

"I suppose so. I killed some monsters and saved some people, so I guess that counts by regular standards."

"Sounds good enough to me," said Saitama. "Say, how did you know that I beat my opponents easily?"

"I pay attention," said Secter. "And give credit where credit is due."

"Yeah, but I don't even know you, nor have I ever seen you."

"The name's Secter," he said. "And no, you probably haven't. Even still, that doesn't mean I didn't know about a lot of the stuff you did."

"Ah. I guess you saw some of it or something."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, that's good I guess," said Saitama. "I'm going to be heading out now."

"Yeah, me too," said Secter. "Need some aspirin or something."

The two walked their separate ways, and Secter returned home, his forehead growing damp and the world beginning to stabilize. He treated himself to a nice breakfast at 2 pm, complete with two cups of coffee, before dragging himself outside to go on patrol. Along the way he saw a multitude of heroes, all dressed in different kinds of clothing and adorned with various weapons. Some were scanning crowds for threats, others seemed to just be going about their normal day, but in costume. Secter looked down at his own costume, a hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Blinking at himself, he shrugged and moved on. No one seemed to be panicking for the most part, save for a couple of people who caught sight of some of the higher-class heroes, and the day went by peacefully. Secter walked into a delicatessen and came back out with his late lunch, before finding a nice place to sit out in the dipping sun.

Munching on an Italian sandwich, Secter watched a nearby festival of colors head down a nearby street, a parade of people in costumes of all kinds. Only this time, they didn't seem to be heroes. Hats of feathers, and suits of colored bells all shook along to a blaring tune played from the floats which chugged along the street, and Secter could spot a few people with megaphones shouting from atop the mechanized vehicles of fancy.

 _What the hell is all that?_ he thought. _Hang on, does that say Neo Heroes on the side?_

"Huh," said Secter. He kept chewing along, before turning his attention to across the street. There, sitting at another deli just across the way was Fubuki, her arms folded in the insides of her fur-lined jacket. Secter's mouth opened and he dropped his sandwich into his tray.

 _She's not with her sister this time,_ he thought. _Interesting. Well, maybe she can answer some questions I have._

He strode across the street, but failed to notice the group of people in black suits stream out from an adjacent ice cream parlor. Fubuki finally noticed Secter coming towards her, and her reaction was not dissimilar to his when he saw her earlier. The group of suited people noticed his approach.

In a flash, they formed a barrier between Secter and Fubuki, shuffling through chairs and tables alike to form a living wall. One of the members fell back and began whispering something to Fubuki, who responded just out of Secter's hearing range. The suited man nodded and walked to the front of the group, giving his best staredown he possibly could to the sweatshirted stranger.

"Miss Blizzard doesn't wish to see you," said the man. "So get lost."

"Look," said Secter. He held up his hands to show he was holding nothing. "Just have some questions about things."

" _She does not wish to see you,_ " said the man.

"Get out of here," came a young suited girl within the group. "Fubuki's our boss, and you'll listen like we do."

"Or you'll regret it," said the man.

"Did she tell you about yesterday?" asked Secter, struggling to stand on his tiptoes to peer over the top of the group. "She's not dead, is she?"

"What?" asked Fubuki, eying the straining man.

"Your sister," said Secter.

"Why would she be dead?" asked Fubuki.

"Oh, so I guess you don't know," said Secter. "Well, that's a shame. Guess I'll just head out then, leave you to it."

He turned his back to the group and began to walk, whistling to himself as he did so. Shuffling could be heard behind him, followed by a quiet yet firm:

"Wait."

Secter turned around. The sea of suited heroes had been parted, and Fubuki stared at Secter with brilliant eyes. For once, Secter was taken aback, as Fubuki actually looked healthier than she did before.

 _Damn,_ he thought. _She's nice to look at._

He strode forward, taking a seat across from Fubuki. She jerked her head back, and the group began to dissipate, each member scattering to a sitting place not far from the deli where she was located. Secter watched each one of them go to their designated sitting spots, before raising an eyebrow at Fubuki.

"They going to watch us the whole time?" he asked.

"They'll only come in if I want them to," she said.

"Alright."

"So what's this about my sister?" asked Fubuki. "Did you do something to her?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on," said Secter. "I get to go first, since I had to deal with your goons a second ago."

Fubuki sighed, but turned her palms upward in a sign of defeat.

"Why did you look so sick a few days ago?" asked Secter.

Fubuki's eyes widened, and her arms retreated back into the crossed position.

"Tch," she said. "That's personal."

"Fine, fine," said Secter. "Although I know it has something to do with your sister."

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing! She attacked me!"

Fubuki nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds like something she would do. Especially after you pissed her off a while ago. Don't know why you would do that, you're lucky to be alive."

"Apparently she doesn't like what I have to say, what I believe, or my very existence really."

"Sounds about right. You're best off avoiding her."

"I intend to. Even still, I wanted to know that she was ok."

"I haven't seen her since yesterday morning," said Fubuki. "I want to keep it that way."

Secter shifted in his seat, the metal design of the chair digging into his legs.

"Do you hate your sister?" asked Secter.

"I _really_ don't like her right now," said Fubuki. "But this isn't stuff that concerns you."

"I tend to be concerned for other people in general. Especially if they are people who help civilians."

"This isn't something for you," said Fubuki. "You're an outsider, to the association, and especially to me and her. Don't go around thinking you can fix every problem you see."

"You must not know me very well. Hi, I'm Secter, and I'm here to help you out."

He extended a hand to Fubuki, a gesture which she refused with a dead stare.

"Well," said Secter. "It was worth a shot."

"Why are you so concerned about this?" asked Fubuki. "Getting involved with me or my sister could get you killed."

"Because a couple days ago, you looked like you wanted to die. And just yesterday, your sister looked about the same."

"What? What happened?"

"Like I said, she attacked me. Nothing of hers worked, so she got really pissed. Threw rocks and buildings at me, then her head started to bleed. And just as I thought she was calming down, she threw me into space."

Fubuki coughed, almost choking on the drink she had been raising to her mouth. It took a few sputters for her to regain her composure, and even then, her eyes were wide.

"She sent you into space?" asked Fubuki.

"Well, she dislodged the ground beneath me and sent that into space," said Secter. "I was just along for the ride apparently."

"How are you…"

"I've had worse."

Fubuki raised the drink to her chin once more, her face a maelstrom of emotions. Confusion, irritation, and anger were chief among them, but Secter also spotted raindrops of fear amongst the storm that was Fubuki's expression. Her hand shook as she sipped from a long, slender glass.

"Mmph," said Fubuki. "And then what?"

"Well, I came back," said Secter. "Gave your sister quite the shock too. Was kind of funny, until I saw that she had vomited on herself."

"She puked on herself?"

"Bunch of blood. From her mouth, her head, her nose too although I don't think she even noticed."

"Huh," said Fubuki. "So, she's still hurt…"

"She said that she had been fighting some dragons before she faced me, so that's why she was weaker. Don't know what the hell that means, I assume dragon is another class?"

Fubuki's mind was elsewhere, her gaze far off. Thinking to herself, she gripped the drink in her hand until her knuckles turned white. Then she looked back at Secter.

"And this was all last night?" she asked.

"Yes," said Secter. "She went back home I think, but she wasn't doing well. I didn't know if you knew whether she was alright or not. To tell you the truth, I don't mind if she got roughed up, but I don't necessarily want her to die per se…"

He tilted his head back and forth, as if weighing his options.

"Although she is a prick," said Secter. "That much I will say."

"We need to go," said Fubuki. "Now."

"What?" asked Secter. "Why? Is she in trouble or something?"

"She's about to be," said Fubuki. "Blizzard Group! Assemble! We're leaving!"

"They're named after you?" asked Secter.

"Will you come with us?" asked Fubuki.

Secter stared up at her for a second, then stretched his arms out in opposite directions.

"How can I say no to a face like that?" asked Secter.

Then they were off, Fubuki, and suited hero, and confused black-haired man alike. Reaching Tatsumaki's house didn't take long, but Fubuki paused and paced back and forth for what felt like hours as they reached the entrance. Eventually, she straightened out her hands parallel to the ground, and took a deep breath.

"We're going in," she said.

"Finally," said Secter. "What are you so worried about? Do you really think she's dead?"

"If all goes well, she'll be close," said Fubuki. Then, in a small voice: "This may be my only chance."

"Miss Fubuki, should we get Bang or the others as backup?" asked one of the group.

"No time," said Fubuki. "My sister can recover quick. We need to do this here and now."

Another deep breath. Fubuki stood in front of the door.

 _This is it, Fubuki,_ she thought to herself. _We have to break free. I can't live like this, not for one more fucking day. This is it. It has to be. I won't hurt her, especially if she's as bad as Secter says, but I have to do something. I have to let her know that she's destroying us. And she'll have to listen if she's weak._

With a thrust of her hand, the door came crashing down, and Fubuki rushed forward, her first step into the house like a declaration of war.

"Tatsumaki, I'm done being your captive!" she yelled. "Come out here and face-"

In front of the tv, eating a bowl of cereal, sat Tatsumaki. She wore pink patterned pajamas, and gave her sister a mildly annoyed look.

"Face…" said Fubuki. "You – you're not injured." Her voice began to quaver, and she backed up into the doorway, blocking the entrance.

"Of course I'm not," said Tatsumaki. "Where would you hear such a thing? And what did you do to my door!?"

"I…" said Fubuki.

"Miss Fubuki!" asked one of the group behind her. "Should we come in to assist?"

Tatsumaki stopped mid-chew.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "You're still with them? I thought I told you that they were holding you back!"

Secter shouldered his way past Fubuki into the living room, and gawked at the spaciousness of the house.

Tatsumaki dropped her bowl to the floor. The spoon she had in her hand bent over backwards, before twisting into a metallic spiral. It snapped apart as it twisted, and the head of the utensil fell into her bowl.

"And _him?!_ " yelled Tatsumaki. "He's here?"

"He's with my group!" shouted Fubuki. She thrust out an arm to bar Secter from moving any deeper into the house.

"I am not in your group," said Secter, giving Fubuki an annoyed look.

"Just one moment, sis," said Tatsumaki. "I'll be right with you."

Fubuki was flung outside by a psychic wave emanating from a flick of Tatsumaki's wrist, and with the lifting of her hand the door flipped upwards and sealed itself back into its original position.

Outside, Fubuki fell into the arms of her assembled group, who looked just as panicky as she did.

"He's going to die in there," said Fubuki.

"What do we do?" asked Lily.

Sweat began to pour down from her forehead, and Fubuki cast her eyes to the ground, despair infiltrating every recess of her mind.

"We have to retreat," said Fubuki. "While there's still time."

"But that guy…"

"Maybe he'll turn out alright," said Fubuki. "If what he said earlier was true. But if he was lying about Tatsumaki the whole time, then he's as good as dead. Let's go."

The group stormed out, a distraught Fubuki quickly following them.

Back inside the house, Secter couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"How big is this tv?" he asked. "No, seriously. This thing is almost as tall as I am!"

"Secter," said Tatsumaki.

"And this living room! It's got a skylight, and a full blown kitchen… Man, I never had anything this nice. Not since I was a kid, anyways."

"Secter."

"And the refrigerator, I'll bet that's one of those refrigerators that dispenses ice through that thingy on the door. And hey, what's with all that milk on the counter?"

"Secter! Listen to me!"

"What?" shouted Secter, turning back to her. He didn't like what he saw.

Tatsumaki was smiling at him, still holding the half-broken spoon in one hand.

"What did you tell my dear sister?" she asked.

"Just about the incident yesterday," said Secter. "Wanted to make sure you didn't die."

"I see. Well, do you know what's going to happen today, Secter?"

"Enlighten me."

"I've gotten my strength back, and I've been practicing some new methods I would like to try on you."

"Did you get your strength back from that milk?" He pointed at the cluster of white drinks that adorned Tatsumaki's table.

"Ignore those!" she shouted. With a slice of her hand through the air, the milk spilled off of the table and out of view.

"Did those say growth milk?" asked Secter. "Tatsumaki, you're twenty-eight. You're not growing any more."

She smiled again, but Secter saw her eye twitch.

"Shut up now," said Tatsumaki. "And let me explain what's going to happen."

Secter sighed.

"Go for it," he said.

"I've been practicing this new method, I like to call it _brain-twisting_ ," said Tatsumaki. "It's where I control the brain stem of a victim and twist it just like I did this spoon." She lifted the remnants of the spoon to show Secter. "And when I twist enough, the whole brain twists."

"Who the hell have you been practicing this on?"

"Monsters, you idiot," said Tatsumaki. "What do you take me for, some kind of psycho?"

"Yes, actually. Well, definitely not all there."

Tatsumaki crushed the spoon in her hand.

"I'm going to make this hurt. So badly in fact, that you'll beg me to stop, and then I won't. I won't stop until you're almost dead and begging for forgiveness. Do you understand?"

"There's a ridiculous amount of hate in you," said Secter.

"Only for you, Secter. Only for you."

"What for?"

"You embarrassed me, insulted me, and worst of all, you are a failure who thought he could stand up to me."

A fire lit up within Secter's mind. His temper rose and he began to imagine how nice Tatsumaki might look as she was being tossed out a window.

"What did you say?" he asked.

Tatsumaki smirked.

 _Got you,_ she thought. _Seems like you aren't impervious to everything after all._

"I said," said Tatsumaki, the sweetest of smiles on her face. "That you, are. A. Failure. Colossal. Monumentous. Enormous. The worst I know. Failure."

Secter's leg muscles tensed up. From the look on her face, he must've looked ready to hit her, as Tatsumaki smiled something devilish at him.

"Are you ready to have your brain twisted, failure?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Are you ready to accept the fact that you're a childish piece of shit who's hated by everyone?" asked Secter. Every ounce of venom that he had was poured into his words, every piece of hatred that he had gained for Tatsumaki used to cobble together that insult. But by the end of it, his gaze fell a little.

"You idiot," said Tatsumaki. She raised her hand, and began to slowly curl her fingers inward. "You're about to die."

Half a minute passed, with Tatsumaki flexing her fingers in an out while Secter glared at her from over by the tv. Ever so often, he would glance around the room, and shake his head at the sights.

A minute passed. Tatsumaki sneered at Secter, her lip curling upwards in utter disgust.

Then, Secter began to rub at his head. Tatsumaki's eyes opened wide.

"Ugh," said Secter.

"Yes!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Are you feeling it now, you piece of shit? Your brain is beginning to twist and turn to my command, and soon you'll be on the floor, in endless pain."

Ice began to run down Tatsumaki's back, and she focused harder. Bending her fingers until she had almost made a closed fist, she concentrated all her power on the man before her.

 _He's faltering,_ thought Tatsumaki. _He resisted for longer than I thought, but I've got him now._ She smirked. _It's all over._

Secter buried his face in his hands, his head aching all over. His palms just made his forehead greasier as the sweat that embalmed them mixed with the oil near his hair. Then, he remembered it was time to take another dose of aspirin.

Reaching into his pocket, he began to pull out a small bottle.

"What," said Tatsumaki. "What are you doing?"

"Had a hangover this morning," said Secter. "Keep this on me for emergencies."

Tatsumaki glared at him while he swallowed a pill. By the end of it, Secter sighed and leaned on top of her tv, no longer rubbing away at his head.

"Did you, did you break it?" she asked.

"Break what?"

"My control, you asshole!"

"You never had any," said Secter. "I only had a headache because I drank too much last night. Your little stunt failed completely."

Tatsumaki stomped her foot on the ground, and Secter snorted at her.

"You're lying," said Tatsumaki. "You were faltering, I could feel it."

"Then maybe you should re-examine your abilities," said Secter. "Seems like you don't have a full grasp on them yet."

Tatsumaki lowered her hand, before drawing the longest breath Secter had ever seen. It was as if she was inhaling all the wind of the world, and blowing out her own soul in return.

"Fuck this," she said. "You're leaving. Get out of my house."

"Sure thing," said Secter. "Although I can tell you right now, you're not going to see Fubuki."

"You don't get to tell her where to go!" yelled Tatsumaki. "She doesn't know any better!"

"She's an adult, like you," said Secter. "Not sure what you're doing to her, or why you think that group is so bad for her, but it needs to stop. She looks miserable."

"Why are you even-" Tatsumaki stopped, and the shadow of a realization crept along her face. "Ohhhh."

"What?" asked Secter. "What are you ohhhh-ing for?"

"I see how it is now," said Tatsumaki. "Why you're trying to 'help' my sister."

"What?"

"You like her," said Tatsumaki. "Figures, don't know why I didn't see it earlier."

"Not really," said Secter. "Actually, she was kind of a jerk to me. Names a whole group of people after herself too. Although I will admit." He stretched, both hands extending out from his sides. "She is nice to look at."

"If you don't like her then why are you getting involved?"

"Because as irritating as she can be, she doesn't deserve whatever this-" Secter made a circling motion with his hand around Tatsumaki. "Is."

"You just motioned to all of me."

"You seem to be the root of the problem."

"There is no problem! Fubuki just doesn't understand what's best for her, what can make her strongest!"

"Here we go with the strong bullshit again."

"What bullshit?" asked Tatsumaki. "Are you some kind of an idiot? Scratch that, I know you're an idiot." She shook her head, resisting the urge to flatten Secter with her own tv. "You don't understand that you have to be strong in this world to survive."

"Lots of heroes that aren't as strong as you survive every day," said Secter.

"They're worthless. Barely help anything."

Secter narrowed his eyes at her, and slowly pushed over Tatsumaki's television. Despite her panicked thrusting of her arm, the device came crashing to the ground.

"You idiot!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Are you just here to torture me or something?"

"I'm no-" Secter halted mid-sentence.

 _The longer I keep her here, the further Fubuki gets,_ thought Secter. _Maybe…maybe I'm on to something here. Keep Tatsumaki's hatred focused on me so she gets less focused on Fubuki. Yes! That could work!_

"Yes, actually," said Secter. "I like it when pieces of shit like you struggle in life."

Tatsumaki stared up at him, her eyes narrowed. Secter tugged at the collar on his shirt.

 _Did…did she buy that?_ he thought.

"You know what this means, right?" asked Tatsumaki.

"What's that?"

"I'm going to make your life miserable," said Tatsumaki. "No lazy, idiotic, useless piece of shit who isn't even ranked in the association is going to get the better of me."

"Out of curiosity, what class do you think I would be in if I joined?"

"I don't care! I just want you out! Now leave, before I get really pissed!"

"What, and start vomiting up on the carpet again?" asked Secter.

Something snapped inside Tatsumaki's brain. Her hands balled into fists, and her left eye began to flutter, as if free of all mental control. She opened her fingers back up, and lifted them to encircle Secter's neck from afar. Closing them until her fingers turned red, she imagined a blue-faced Secter in between her grasp.

"Uh," said Secter, leaning back from the tv, which was eagerly reporting the weather from its downward position. "Are you ok?"

"Why are you asking me that," said Tatsumaki, her mouth beginning to froth. "Right after you piss me off so much? I don't understand you, are you some kind of a crazy person?"

"Mildly," said Secter. "But this is starting to make me uncomfortable, I'm going to leave."

"Yes!" shouted Tatsumaki. "Do that! And never, ever approach me or my sister again! Do you understand?"

"Ah fuck off," said Secter. "And let your sister be. She seems miserable whenever she's with you."

"Only because she's weak," said Tatsumaki. With every word of hers, Secter had to move closer to hear, as waves of spittle turned her sentences into frothy garbles. "She'll grow to respect what I've done for her."

"Like what? What have you done?"

"I taught her, that she needs no one. She needs no one but herself. I need no one but myself. I am stronger than almost anyone else, and anyone who doubts that is going to be destroyed. Now leave!"

Secter took a step back, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Hang on a second, Tatsu," said Secter. "You ever hear of this thing called morale?"

"Leave!"

"You might think you're the strongest, but when the time comes, you'll be glad to know that people have your back, or are even coming to have your back."

"And if they aren't?" shot Tatsumaki. "When there's no one?"

"If you've done enough good, there will always be someone," said Secter. "And even if you know they can't make it, you'd be surprised what it can still do for your mental fortitude. That someone out there is willing to help you, even if it puts themselves in danger."

"Leave."

Secter sighed.

"You're a troubled woman, Tatsu," said Secter. "I don't know why, but you've got some major issues."

"And like you're any different?" said Tatsumaki. Her voice blasted through the room. Cups and glasses began to shake and fall from the cupboards in the kitchen, and Secter snapped his head sideways in shock.

"You come into my life," said Tatsumaki. "Out of nowhere, forcing yourself between me and my sister and claiming that you can help her when you don't even know or like her. That's not something normal people do!" At the last word, milk exploded all over the kitchen, splattering walls and ceiling alike with streams of white.

"I'm not the most normal person around," said Secter. "And you uh, you destroyed your milk."

"I'm going to lose my mind," said Tatsumaki. "Congratulations, Secter, you got what you wanted. No person has ever made me this angry or distraught in a long, long time. Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?"

Secter gave a troubled look at Tatsumaki, and he brushed his already combed-upwards hair even further up.

 _Say yes?_ he thought. _Keep the plan going._

"I…don't," said Secter. "No?"

"Don't lie," said Tatsumaki. "You love this. You love seeing me suffer, because you hate me. Because you're jealous that I'm at the top and you never could be."

"I think we've established that you're not much of a threat to me," said Secter. "And I think I've further established that I hate the HA's class system and want no part of it."

"Go away," said Tatsumaki.

"Sure," said Secter. "You look like you're about to have a stroke anyways."

He turned from her, his eyes still on the lookout for any floating objects, and started heading for the door. Tatsumaki's breathing sounded off in his ears even as he passed the foyer.

"Don't join her group," said Tatsumaki from somewhere behind him.

"Hmm?" asked Secter.

"Her group, don't join it."

"I didn't want to. But why not?"

"I'll kill you and everyone in it if you do."

"Will you?"

"I will."

"Mmm."

Secter pushed the door open, and gave one last look at Tatsumaki as he began to leave.

"Leave your sister be," he said. "Try to make things right with her after a little while."

A smile, crooked and bent beyond recognition, was the only feature visible on Tatsumaki's face. The top half of her expression was hidden in darkness as she let her hair fall down in front of her eyes.

"Oh, I'll make things right, for sure," said Tatsumaki.

 _Good God,_ thought Secter.

He left the house, and to his delight, Fubuki and the others were gone.

 _Wait a second, they just left me here!_ he thought. _Bastards! Well, I guess it's for the best._

He strode down the street, a light rain falling all around him. The sky was grey and a thin sheen of fog covered the area. Secter pulled up his hood as the rain picked up, and from behind him, he could hear the door to Tatsumaki's house open. He froze in his tracks.

Spinning towards the house, Secter raised both his arms to stop any speeding bits of shrapnel or furniture that might be rocketing towards his body. Instead, there was nothing. Not even the door looked as if it had been touched. But high in the air, growing fainter in the afternoon mist, was a dark speck, black trails flowing off of its tail end.

. . .

 _She knows she can't get away,_ thought Tatsumaki as she blazed through the air. Squinting ahead, she swerved to avoid an oncoming building, which flew past her, a black obelisk in the fog.

 _So why are you hiding? Do you really think that pathetic little group can protect you? Why are you being so fucking difficult?_

Tatsumaki halted in midair, barely able to make out the shape of Fubuki's house down below. Dark shapes passed by the home, none of whom so much as glanced up at the person above.

 _Surely she didn't go home,_ thought Tatsumaki. _She's not that dumb._ She sighed, watching her breath cascade out in front of her to merge with the fog. _Then where the hell did she go?_

"Fuck," she muttered.

Her eyes grew wide in horror. Fists clenched together, Tatsumaki reared forward for another mid-air takeoff.

 _Don't tell me, don't fucking tell me,_ she thought. _Don't tell me she went to Saitama's house. Wait, where does that bastard live? He mentioned something about his home being destroyed in Z-city, maybe he still lives somewhere in that area._

More flying. Tatsumaki's eyelids began to droop as the streetlights below flickered on, and she sighed as she drew closer to the ground.

 _She could be anywhere by this point, can't let her get away with them…_

Up ahead, she caught a glimpse of a group dressed in black, hurrying along a sidewalk alone. Tatsumaki shot forward, a sadistic grin spread across her face. She was almost upon them, with eyes being illuminated like some kind of demon, until someone stepped out from a nearby café and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"What the hell, move!" she yelled. The figure stood its ground.

Tatsumaki glared up at the person. She gasped.

"No, not you," she said. "How? How did you find me?"

"Not that hard, really," said Secter. "With you flying all over the place."

She wanted to see the man burn alive. Have his skull ripped into pieces. Watch as he was tossed through a building. No amount of harm was too great to the barrier that blocked her way.

Tatsumaki's mind began to swirl in shades of red and yellow, hatred rising from deep within her. This man was different than Saitama, for unlike him, Secter was here. And he wouldn't leave.

 _He's a freak,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Getting involved with things that he doesn't even know about, he's a freak._

"You just gonna stand there?" asked Secter. "Brooding at me? Because honestly, I guess I'm fine with that as opposed to the alternative."

"You're a nightmare," said Tatsumaki. "At least Saitama…at least he doesn't get involved with these things! At least he leaves me alone!"

"I would much prefer to leave you alone, and will, if you let your sister be," said Secter.

"You are so goddamned annoying," said Tatsumaki. "Leave us be!"

Secter shook his head, his lips pursing in disdain.

"She doesn't deserve whatever misery you're bringing to her," he said.

"You think I'm making her miserable," said Tatsumaki. "She is going to make herself miserable with those idiots. And with you, if you're part of her group."

"Not part of her group. Don't want to be."

"So you're barely even an acquaintance. You're just a freak."

"Leave her be, and I'll let you be."

Tatsumaki groaned. Her mind was beginning to calm a little, and her shoulders eased.

"Fine," said Tatsumaki.

"Do you mean it?" asked Secter. His arms crossed at her, giving her a look of suspicion.

"Yes, I mean it," said Tatsumaki. "You've become too much of a pain to deal with."

"Alright then," said Secter. He smiled and spread his arms out wide. In his other hand was the wrapped up roll of a partly-eaten sandwich. "Not so hard, isn't it?"

Tatsumaki ripped a hand through the air, and Secter's sandwich went flying out of his grip into a nearby puddle. Time seemed to freeze on Secter's face for a moment, before he creaked his head towards the fallen gyro. Absolute horror seeped into his expression.

"No," he said. "Why. Why would you do that?"

"It's just a sandwich," said Tatsumaki. "You'll live."

Secter snapped back to attention.

"That was uncalled for," he said.

"So is stalking me and my sister," said Tatsumaki.

"I'm not stalking anybody! I don't even want to be around you two!"

Looks from people inside the café, many of whom had stopped eating their meals to see what was going on.

"Oh for God's sakes," said Secter.

Tatsumaki turned her back to Secter, and began to walk in the opposite direction.

"We have a deal now," said Secter. "You should honor it."

"Fuck off," said Tatsumaki.

She grew more and more distant as the fog rolled in, and Secter threw his hands up in the air before turning away. He gave one last mournful look at the drowning sandwich before making his way back home.

 _Well, I don't expect this to last long,_ he thought. _But maybe I can buy Fubuki some time, let Tatsumaki cool off for a bit, however long that may take. Christ, why is she like this anyway?_

 _. . ._

It had been a quiet day, with people milling about in the streets. Tatsumaki sat on the edge of a domed building, her back slouched and her face grey. No amount of sunlight seemed to warm her disposition, and she watched as people down below went about their business. Sighing to herself, she lay flat on the top of the building, arms and legs spread out in an star position.

"So bored…" she muttered.

Eventually she made her way down to the streets, darting past civilians and heroes alike. She spent half an hour looking around, growing more irritable as time went on. As she neared a hostpital, she saw her worst nemesis standing outside its entrance in the parking lot. He looked pale and sweaty, as if he were recovering from a cold but was outside nonetheless. Secter was chatting to one of the nurses who was on her way to the front doors. Tatsumaki spotted him handing her an envelope, to which she nodded at the offer, beaming.

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. She flew away from the place. Her head began to pound just from the sight of that man.

 _Wait,_ thought Tatsumaki. _He's distracted._

Tatsumaki rushed towards Fubuki's home, which came into full view within seconds. As she reached up to pound on the door, she heard someone walking up beside her. Tatsumaki whipped around, only to spot Secter standing next to her, his face entrenched in a scowl and his eyes dark.

"You," said Tatsumaki, all the breath escaping from her lungs. "How."

"What did I say," said Secter. "At least give her some time, for God's sakes. She looked terrified of you."

"You're obsessed," said Tatsumaki.

" _You're_ obsessed."

"She's my sister! I can visit her whenever!"

"And what were you going to do next?"

Tatsumaki scoffed at him, her arms crossing. She pulled away from the scene in a hurry, her back muscles twitching and pulling as if she were losing control of them. Surely this had to be a nightmare. No one could just get to places that fast like that.

 _Can he teleport?_ thought Tatsumaki. _There's no way to tell, since that coward won't take the hero test. Maybe he's even stronger than I thought._

She pulled at the strands of her hair that danced in front of her face, nearly tearing them out in the process. Clumps of green hair were the results of her efforts, being strangled by tightly clenched fingers.

 _No, no, he can't be,_ thought Tatsumaki. _He can't be._

 _. . ._

The following day, Tatsumaki walked up to a group of what looked to be businesspeople all clustered around a nearby float. She was aware of the potential for Secter to show up at any time, but she was growing more irritated by the day. Tatsumaki needed to do something, or risk losing Fubuki to her wretched cronies. Blizzard's crew oohed and awwed at the sights of the parade, but when Tatsumaki came into view, they stiffened in fear. Each member ran forward to form a circle around the esper, readying themselves into their fighting stances. This got an amused smirk from Tatsumaki, which turned into chuckling as one by one the Fubuki group got flung into the air in all different directions.

 _Back to full strength,_ she thought. _I could destroy Secter now, if he shows up._

In the middle of the scattered group was a terrified woman, who took a step back when Tatsumaki drew close.

"You didn't do a good job of hiding, now did you," said Tatsumaki. "And your little group is still just as pathetic as before."

"I figured you'd find me," said Fubuki, standing firm but feeling her resolve slip away at the mere presence of her sister.

"There's no one to save you now," said Tatsumaki, grinning. "Would you imagine that."

"Saitama-"

"Saitama's not here! And neither is that other idiot!"

"Then I guess I'll have to fight you myself," said Fubuki. She readied herself into position, her hands raised for psychic waves but her legs quivering.

"Don't do it, Miss Fubuki!" shouted one of the group. "She'll take you away again!"

"I have to do it," said Fubuki. Her mouth was beginning to tremble. "I can't let her think she's won."

"I already have," said Tatsumaki. She began to flex her fingers back and forth, and Fubuki moaned in pain. Swaying to the rhythm of Tatsumaki's fingers, the whole world went dark for Fubuki, and she passed out onto the pavement.

"Sorry sis," said Tatsumaki. "But you know it needed to be done."

Both Fubuki and Tatsumaki rose up above, and Tatsumaki along with a limp Fubuki flew from the sight of the group down below. No matter how quick they ran, they could not keep up with the sisters. Some of the group fell to their knees, tears in their eyes. Others got lost in random streets. A few unlucky members got caught up in battles with low-level monsters, while Tatsumaki brought the ailing Fubuki back to her home.

It took a couple hours for Fubuki to come to, and when she did, her entire vision was blocked by a wall of white. The wall began to rescind, further and further back to reveal a cylindrical shape hovering in the air. Fubuki blinked at the cup, and let out a small groan. She swallowed, the spit going down like molasses through sandpaper. Wincing at the pain, she froze when she saw Tatsumaki standing near her.

"Tea?" asked Tatsumaki.

"You…" began Fubuki.

"Drink it," said Tatsumaki. "You'll need it to recover."

"Why…"

"We're going to start training again, of course. Last time, you weren't good enough. And obviously, your little group is holding you back, so you're not going to see them again for a while."

"I want to go…"

"No. You don't need anybody else. You can get stronger on your own, and I…well, I am going to be so gracious as to keep training you."

"I can get stronger with them…"

Tatsumaki laughed.

"You haven't got at all stronger with them, while I have only learned new techniques," said Tatsumaki.

"That's because you do nothing else," said Fubuki, straightening up in her seat. "You have no friends."

"I don't need any," said Tatsumaki. "No one can get an advantage over me if I'm the strongest."

"Saitama could fight you," said Fubuki. "I will fight you."

"Saitama fought me while I was weaker, and you will lose. You already know that."

"I'm so sick of this…"

"Too bad. We begin training in a little bit, once you're back to full strength. Well, close to it. Obviously I'm going to have to weaken you a bit so you don't try to fly away when I'm not looking."

Tatsumaki held the tea closer to Fubuki's face.

"Drink it," said Tatsumaki. "It's good."

"I don't want it," said Fubuki. Dark circles appeared like abyssal crescents under her eyes, and a thin film of sweat coated her face and upper chest. "Let me go."

"I'll set it down," said Tatsumaki. The cup settled on a coffee table next to Fubuki. She turned towards it.

"Agh," said Fubuki, struggling to raise one of her arms.

"Do you need help or something?" asked Tatsumaki.

 _Sheesh, maybe I went a little too hard this time,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Well, guess it can't be helped with my power-_

The cup came toppling off the coffee table with a swipe of Fubuki's arm. It vomited its contents all over the carpet. Tatsumaki's mouth hung open at the results.

"You asshole!" she yelled. "Well, then you get nothing!"

Tatsumaki stormed off towards her bedroom, while Fubuki collapsed into the couch. Fubuki pulled the blanket that was draped around her shoulders tighter around her body, and she did her best not to cry into the pillow she buried her head into.

A few hours later, Tatsumaki returned from her bedroom to find Fubuki still crumpled on the couch, her brain still quivering at Tatsumaki's command.

"Hmph," said Tatsumaki.

Heading into the kitchen, she pulled out a carton of eggs and cracked one over a heated skillet. Steam rose into the air as the egg fried within the pan, crackling drops of grease jumping in glee out of the sides of the skillet. A murmuring could be heard from the couch, and Tatsumaki turned to the sound, only to see Fubuki shifting from under her blanket. Tatsumaki dumped the eggs onto a nearby plate, and shuffled over to where Fubuki was laying.

"Wake up," said Tatsumaki.

"Mmph," said Fubuki.

"I made some food," said Tatsumaki. "Eat it, you'll need the sustenance."

Fubuki raised her head out from the pillow. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she reached out to take the plate from Tatsumaki.

Tatsumaki frowned at the sight of her, and went back into the kitchen to get herself some food.

"Meet me out back in thirty minutes," said Tatsumaki. "And bring your A-game this time."

Fubuki's gaze hit the ground. Slowly she munched on the eggs, sniffling to herself.

. . .

Tatsumaki stood on the opposite side of her lawn, watching as Fubuki shambled outside. Fubuki's head was hung low, but Tatsumaki could see that her fists were clenched.

"Well, get ready," said Tatsumaki. "I won't accept failure."

"Just start it," said Fubuki.

Multiple crumbling chunks of dirt and earth ripped themselves up from the ground in a floating circle around Tatsumaki's head.

"Stop this," said Tatsumaki. She pointed at Fubuki, and the clusters flew forward at her sister.

Her head raising to look at the incoming projectiles, Fubuki raised both of her arms to try and stop them mid-flight. Shock encompassed her face when the earth spun around away from her to her sides, and when Fubuki turned to face the threat from one angle, the chunks of earth that spun from the other side came slamming into her back. All the air was knocked from Fubuki, and she stumbled forward, only to have the other chunks crash directly into her front. Fubuki's eyes and nose stung as they were clogged with dirt, and she toppled to the ground, something warm trickling from the side of her face.

"See?" asked Tatsumaki. "Aren't I a good trainer? Now you know that you focus too much on one threat at a time, sometimes you need to be aware of your-"

She was cut off by a section of house that flew apart at her, bricks firing off like bullets and sections of glass blasting at her like translucent flying knives. Tatsumaki waved her hand at the debris, and it scattered to the wind, all the bits of walls and windows crashing in the grass beside her.

"Hey!" yelled Tatsumaki. "That's my house, asshole! I told you not to do that!"

 _I knew I should've brought her somewhere else,_ thought Tatsumaki. _But with that Secter idiot running around, who knows if he might've saw me. We probably would've fought, and Fubuki would've run off again. But if she had stayed, and it went just like last time… She might get encouraged again. That I am weak. That she can train with her group instead of me._

No response from Fubuki, who was hunched over by the massive hole in the wall that was the edge of Tatsumaki's house. Just the sight of her made Tatsumaki scowl.

 _Still thinks she can win,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Good, little sis, good. Keep trying. Maybe one day, you'll even make it to S-class, and then no one will try and take advantage of you._

"Well?" asked Tatsumaki. "I'm right here."

Nothing.

"Fine!" shouted Tatsumaki. "I'll make you pay for what you did to my house!"

The ground began to rumble beneath Fubuki, and she glanced down in panic as she started to rise into the air. Both of her hands shot to the ground as sweat as blood streamed down her face. Meanwhile, Tatsumaki could feel the slightest of downward tugs as the ground stuttered up higher.

 _Ugh, she's not even close,_ thought Tatsumaki. _How long is it gonna take you, sis?_

Circling her finger, Fubuki's platform circled itself as well. Fubuki was knocked back into the ground where the section of earth had come from, and she blinked in disbelief at the spinning dirt up above. Then, drops of ground, like rain on a cloudy day, began to fall onto Fubuki, and she scrambled to get up as the dirt coated her dress brown. Raising both arms into the air, she shook and gasped at the invisible force pushing down on her from above.

 _Just focus everything you got,_ thought Fubuki. _Otherwise you'll get buried alive. Just…focus…everything._

Beads of sweat ran down Fubuki's nose before leaping off into the hole below. Fubuki watched them as they fell, refusing to look at the impending doom that was creeping closer from above.

 _No,_ thought Fubuki. _No. No. No. No!_

Something poked her back, and Fubuki shivered. Waves of dirt were pouring all around her, smothering her hair and spine with endless showers of soil and grass. A solid chunk of rock, the size of a bowling ball, cascaded from the side of the meteoric cluster directly onto Fubuki's neck. She gasped, the force of the impact sending her to the ground. There was little sunlight around her now, with the earth shuffling closer and closer to bury her in. Fubuki lowered her arms, letting the ground collapse down on top of her.

Up above, Tatsumaki tapped her foot, waiting for the sound of the impact. She bolted upright when it came.

 _That was quicker than I thought,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Did she give up?_

The ground ripped itself asunder and was sent flying off a nearby cliff by Tatsumaki's psychic command. She approached the hole within which Fubuki lie, her body encased in layers of dirt and rocks. Tatsumaki could see small rivers of red streaming off of her sister's face and from behind her neck, and Fubuki turned to look up at her.

"Hmph," said Tatsumaki. "Guess we'll just have to try again later. Honestly, I really don't know why you weren't able to hold that back for longer-"

The doorbell rang. Tatsumaki's mouth stopped mid-sentence.

"What?" she asked.

It rang again.

"Goddamnit, you stay here," said Tatsumaki. She floated past the crippled woman below to head to the front door.

. . .

Secter was none too pleased when a massive cloud of dirt and earth nearly collided with him on the trek up to Tatsumaki's house. It made him about as happy as the fact that he needed to go to this place anyways, but when he peered through the fence as to what was going on, he ground his teeth together, enamel scraping apart at the sheer pressure in his mouth. Running to the front of the house, he noticed that a group of suited individuals had beat him to the punch. They stood right outside, each one nervously checking their weapons.

"We have to get her back," said one of the group. "Tornado could kill her!"

"She won't do that, right?" asked Lily.

No responses from the rest of the group.

"Hey!" said Secter, approaching the demoralized heroes. "You guys are the Fubuki group, right?"

"Yes, we are," said one of the members.

"And you're her friends, right?" asked Secter.

"Yeah!" yelled Lily. "We're going to get her back!"

"Well good, because I could use your help," said Secter. "I have a plan to get Fubuki out of there, but I need you guys in on it."

"We can help!" yelled another member. "Wait, you're that guy who told Ms. Fubuki about Tatsumaki being injured the one time, right?"

"Yeah, that was me."

"You lied!" yelled Lily.

"No I didn't, she just recovered kinda quick," said Secter. "And it doesn't matter now, you guys got away and left me there, so we're even anyways."

The group exchanged uncomfortable looks with one another.

"We didn't want to leave you," said Lily.

"But we had to get Ms. Fubuki out of there!" came another member.

"It's alright," said Secter. "I forgive you. Now, let's just focus on getting Fubuki out. Her sister is tormenting her in there, and I have no fucking clue as to why."

"What's the plan?" asked Lily.

"Simple," said Secter. "I'll distract the green demon while you guys grab Fubuki."

"Are you gonna be ok?" asked Lily. "Fighting Tornado, I mean."

"I can handle Tatsu," said Secter. "You guys just need to run. Like, as soon as you get Fubuki. Otherwise, things are gonna get a little chaotic."

"Ok!" said the group in unison.

"Alright, I'm gonna ring the doorbell," said Secter. "You guys stay out of view, so Tatsumaki doesn't kill you on sight."

Nods and readied weapons amongst the Fubuki group.

"I'm ringing the doorbell," said Secter as he reached the doorway and extended a hand. "Get ready."

"We're ready!" shouted Lily.

A pleasant, sonorous tune echoed from inside the house. Somewhere in the distance, an irritated "what?" could be heard.

The door opened. Tatsumaki looked up at Secter with murder in her eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," said Tatsumaki. "You're a little late."

"I got busy," said Secter. "Doing…stuff."

"That's nice," said Tatsumaki. "Are you ready to die now?"

"And you still owe me for that sandwich, you piece of shit," said Secter. "Believe it or not, that thing cost twelve dollars. Twelve dollars! It wasn't half bad though, aside from the half that you threw in the puddle."

"Shut up," said Tatsumaki. "I'm back to full strength, so now I can kill you within seconds."

"Let's take it away from the house then," said Secter. He jerked a thumb towards a clearing a few blocks down the street.

"We'll-" began Tatsumaki. "Actually, yes, let's do that."

Tatsumaki cast a glance down through her house, only to see Fubuki limping up from the hole she had once been buried in.

"I'll make this quick," said Tatsumaki.

The two of the them reached the clearing, Secter with his hands in his pockets and narrowed eyes, Tatsumaki with a scowl on her face.

"And don't think that I don't know about the idiots hiding beside my house," said Tatsumaki. "They're not taking her back."

"Why are you holding your sister hostage," said Secter. "And beating the shit out of her."

"She doesn't know any better," said Tatsumaki. "She doesn't know what's best for her."

"And how are you able to make that judgement?! Why can't Fubuki decide for herself?"

"She doesn't need any relationships with anyone. They're only going to use her."

Secter shook his head, utter confusion plaguing his mind.

"I…I don't understand you," he said. "You make no sense to me."

"You don't make sense to me either," said Tatsumaki. "Subjecting yourself to the beating you're about to get for a person you don't even like that much."

"I told you," said Secter. "I may not like her that much, but I don't like seeing other people in pain. Especially not like this…between you two. I can tell you care about your sister, and I think she cares about you. But this…" He pointed at Tatsumaki's backyard. "This is horrendous."

"It's necessary," said Tatsumaki. "For her to get stronger."

"Everyone's consumed by this. Everyone. There's nothing wrong with wanting to get stronger, especially to help others, but everyone's letting it decide who they are. Letting it determine their worth and doing crazy things to get stronger!"

"It's not crazy," said Tatsumaki. She raised a finger towards Secter. "Only the strong survive."

"Survive what?" asked Secter. "Survive-"

His words were cut off as a brick wall slammed into his back, sending him stumbling forward. Tatsumaki smiled in delight, and sent another section of wall from a nearby building into Secter's front, smashing him in between the two layers like a human sandwich. Sliding the walls together at the top and bottom, she hurled the entire layer cake of debris and Secter hundreds of meters away directly into the earth. Concrete and gravel smashed itself upwards into jagged little mountains alongside the flying debris as the sections of wall skidded to a halt near the end of a road.

Secter emerged from the rubble, dirt and dust coating his face and clothes. Tears adorned his sweatshirt and pants, and Secter's face grew furious at the sight of his tattered clothing.

Tatsumaki appeared before him, her eyes gleaming, and her mouth twisted into a demented grin.

"I'll bet that hurt, didn't it?" asked Tatsumaki. "You look rough already."

 _Good, she's getting further from her house,_ thought Secter. _The group should've been able to grab Fubuki by now._

"Today's the day," said Tatsumaki. "Today's the day I end you."

"Then get on with it," said Secter. "Do your worst."

"Oh this is gonna hurt you," said Tatsumaki. "But it's going to make me so happy."

"You're a sadistic bastard, aren't you?"

"Only when I'm against someone I hate. And I haven't hated someone this much in a long time."

"To be honest, I don't like you either. But for some reason, I don't _really_ hate you."

Secter paused for a moment, and brushed some of the dirt off of his cheek.

"And I don't really know why," said Secter. "Maybe, maybe it's because of when I was first meeting you, and you stopped that table from hitting somebody. Like, for some reason, you cared about the life of a random civilian, even for all your threatening to kill me. I knew there had to be a reason why people called you hero, why you were one of the more popular ones. And it always seemed like you were pushing people away anyways, isolating yourself…"

Tatsumaki raised an eyebrow at Secter.

"Were…were you going to kill your sister?" asked Secter.

"No, I wasn't going to kill her!" yelled Tatsumaki. "I was only training her. What the hell do you take me for?"

"I don't know…I just…don't know."

"Well, it doesn't matter," said Tatsumaki. "Because you're about to die."

Both hands in the air, she turned the rubble beneath Secter into a flying platform, which she sent colliding into a nearby house. Secter crashed into a coffee table, his head banging on the concrete flooring beneath it.

 _If he can jump down from space, then he's no small fry,_ thought Tatsumaki. _I'm going to have to give him one of the strongest moves I have._

Swirling winds and crackling psychic waves began to surround the still-immobile Secter, who watched as the world around him shifted and warped into a green cyclone. The house came flying apart at the seams, and Secter's eyes widened as Tatsumaki and everything else vanished from view. He jumped to his feet. Floor and walls alike wobbled and shook as Secter struggled to maintain his balance, and he fell to the ground again as the swirls of psychic energy tore at his clothes and skin. Secter grumbled, then gasped as the world around him went dark. He was falling, faster and faster, and a rising heat from beneath him started to intensify. Soon the entire house began to melt, wood and concrete alike dripping and dissolving away from him. Secter found himself with no more floor to stand on, and with the psychic waves dissipating, he tumbled deep into the endless, scorching dark.

Tatsumaki admired her masterpiece, a crater in the ground large enough to encompass an entire city block. Both the house Secter was in, as well as the remaining half-constructed homes of nearby were all gone, having fallen into the blackness below. Nothing could be seen down inside the hole from above, save for some spiky rocks and bits of debris. Tatsumaki squinted at the wound inside the earth she had created, before dusting her hands off and flying back to the spot where Secter had originally crash landed.

 _You might be able to survive heights, but what about the planet's core?_ thought Tatsumaki. _It…probably won't kill you. Scorch you, yes, but if you can survive my other attacks, then maybe…_

She looked back at the crater, half-expecting Secter to be leaping out of it only to do a somersault and fold himself up right in front of her. Instead, there was nothing.

"Huh," said Tatsumaki. "Guess you weren't as strong as I thought."

She swiveled back towards her house, and to her shock, she spotted someone coming towards her.

"Fu-Fubuki?" asked Tatsumaki.

Fubuki stood across from Tatsumaki, her face and head still bleeding, her clothes still ripped and stained brown. Not far from where she stood, clustered around a building, were the frightened and confused faces of the Fubuki group.

"Well, well, well," said Tatsumaki. "Are you ready for another round then? Because I'm riding high after beating S-"

"I hate you," said Fubuki. Her expression was half hidden by strands of brown and red hair clinging to her face.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki.

"I hate you. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"You-"

"I don't want to see you anymore, I don't want to fight you anymore, I am done with you."

Tatsumaki stood, speechless. Her mind tossed and turned as she thought of something to say.

"You're a bad person, and above all else, a terrible sister."

"No, no," said Tatsumaki. "I'm a good sister. You're just confused-"

"I'm not confused!" yelled Fubuki. "I know what I want in life, and you just take everything away from me!"

Tatsumaki gave her a confused look, which only enraged Fubuki further.

"You don't even understand. You don't even fucking understand. This is why I hate you, sister, nothing I do gets through to you. You treat me like an object, like I have no feelings or thoughts of my own. Like I can never find happiness unless it's approved by _you._ "

"What is this? Are you trying to rile me up?"

"You still don't understand?" asked Fubuki. "Then let me make this abundantly clear." She took in a deep breath. "I. Hate. You."

"No you don't."

"I hate you more than anything. You're the only one who's been holding me back. I can't stand the sight of you. Every time you show up, I just think about how you're going to hurt me or my friends. Just like how you hurt my group, how you hurt me, how you just hurt Saitama!"

"Saitama?" asked Tatsumaki. "No, that was-"

"I'm through with you, you understand?" asked Fubuki. Tears were flowing down her face, mixing with the dirt to form streams of clouded earth. "I _despise_ you."

"You…you don't know what you're saying."

"I know exactly what I'm saying. You're a monster, Tatsumaki. Way worse than any I've fought. A terrible person. An awful human being. A bad sister."

Tatsumaki's voice caught in her throat. She tried to force something to come out of her mouth, but nothing happened.

"I had hoped that we could've fixed this," said Fubuki. "But you just got worse and worse, even after the fight with Saitama. I wish…I wish I had put you in the hospital or something after you were weakened, so I wouldn't have to deal with you."

"You…you don't mean that." Tatsumaki's words were as weak as her limbs, quivering and shaking.

"I do mean that. And…I…I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry, sis. Just…please, don't talk to me again."

"I can't leave you be, what if you are in trouble?"

"You said it yourself, I shouldn't expect someone to save me."

"I can't…I can't just leave you!" said Tatsumaki. "I won't!"

"For my sake," said Fubuki. "You will. I'll get stronger without you in my life. Goodbye, Tatsumaki."

She turned from her sister, and began walking back down the road towards home.

Tatsumaki rubbed at her eyes, staunching the flow of tears that threatened to burst forth.

"You don't mean any of this, sis!" yelled Tatsumaki. "You're just angry after the loss!"

Fubuki looked back at Tatsumaki, pure venom in her gaze.

"I'm angry…" said Fubuki. "Because you don't respect me. I'm angry, because you're a horrible human being. I'm angry, because you make everything wrong. I'm angry, because you ruined my fucking life!"

Fubuki turned away again, leaving a frozen Tatsumaki in her wake. Tatsumaki watched as her sister reunited with her real friends, and disappeared as they all rounded the nearest corner.

"I…" said Tatsumaki, to the ears of no one. "Just wanted you to be safe."

She plopped down on the ground, her chest growing hot as burning dread filled her entire body. Wrapping both her arms around herself, she squeezed her ribcage tight, as if trying to crush what was inside.

 _She's just emotional,_ thought Tatsumaki. _She doesn't really hate me. It's tough love, Fubuki. I'm doing this so you can get stronger! Don't you know that people out there will hurt you, will use you! I…am I losing you, Fubuki? Fubuki?_

She did her best not to cry, but couldn't help but have some tears escape.

 _Come back sis,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Please._

Movement out of the corner of her eye made Tatsumaki turn her head. There, slumped against the remnants of another house, half-hidden behind a wrecked fence and a tattered bush, sat Secter, his eyes trained on the ground.

"You…" said Tatsumaki. "You're not dead?"

"No," said Secter. "That whole thing didn't go so well, did it?"

Tatsumaki turned back towards the road where he sister once was.

"No," she said. "It didn't."

"You ok?"

"No."

"You didn't seem it."

Secter carried himself over to Tatsumaki, and sat down on the road beside her.

Tatsumaki sneered in disgust at him for a second, before turning away again. To her surprise, Secter looked about the same as before she had thrown him in the hole, the only differences being his ripped clothes and the fact that he somehow looked even more tired than usual. She sighed.

 _Sorry Tatsu, I hate to do this,_ thought Secter. _I really, truly do. But, I need to find out what's really going on with you. I don't like seeing you hurt like this. Even if you did just try to kill me again._

Secter looked at her, and with a quick mind-search he went a bit deeper into her memories. From her fight with Saitama, to some vague images of her being locked in a cell by suited people, her arms barely able to reach the dim opening that adorned the top of the door to her cage, to her bloody battle with a strange horned demon of a man, Secter frowned at what he saw.

"I've lost her, haven't I?" asked Tatsumaki. She looked over at him, and Secter frowned at the sheer despair that was pulling her down. "You…you read into these things or something, right? Giving advice and all that. Make sense of this!"

"Do you not understand?" asked Secter. "Why she's angry at you?"

"I…I think I get why she might be upset, but she hates me?"

"You keep acting like she's not able to do things for herself, then tell her the only way to get stronger is to overcome you, some impossible barrier. You're supposed to be her sister, not her kidnapper."

"She might be able to beat me one day."

"I think she's more concerned about the way you treat her, then beating you for now. She wants some compassion from you, not constant put downs. Also, I think other people wouldn't mind you not putting them down verbally either."

"I do it because they're not strong enough," said Tatsumaki. "If they're not worth my time, then they're not going to be able to stand up against monsters."

"Sometimes the act of trying alone is respectable enough."

"But that won't save people!"

"Well…" said Secter. "You might be surprised. And maybe yes, not every hero can save every person from every threat. And it's a tragedy. But do we really expect that of every hero? I mean, if we did, we would really only have S-class. And even then, I'm sure there are threats that even you guys need help with."

Tatsumaki went silent. She contemplated what to do next – running seemed like an option, but she lacked the energy. Eventually she groaned, and leaned further back.

"I…don't want Fubuki to go," said Tatsumaki. "This is…something I have trouble with."

"Trouble?" asked Secter.

"I don't know…how to tell her…how I feel, really, I…"

"It can be hard to get feelings across, I know."

"I want her to be safe," said Tatsumaki. "I don't want other people to use her."

"Who's going to use her?"

"People who are stronger than her."

"Like how the Hero Association uses you?"

"That's not! That's…it's different! I work for them because they give me stuff in return for my work."

"But you'd be a hero whether you got something out of it or not, right?"

"I don't know. I guess. Maybe."

"I think you would."

Tatsumaki leaned forward, to the point where her head was halfway to the ground.

"Why are you doing this, Secter?" she asked. "Talking to me? I just tried to kill you."

"You did, and I don't care," said Secter. "I've always…I've always tried to help people who were hurting. I just don't like seeing people suffer, and have done everything I can to try and help them."

"What do you get out of this?"

"I don't know, seeing you two happy?"

"That's your reward?"

"Seems good to me."

"No one's that nice."

Secter smiled.

"I've always been told by my siblings that I had a big heart," said Secter. Quiet chuckles emanated from his mouth. "Back when we were all younger, with me being the oldest, around Christmas time, I'd always find out where my brother and sis had their lists, since they didn't really show em to anybody, and I'd go to the toy store and wait for in line to get them something nice, although I could really only afford a couple things, and I'd…"

Tatsumaki looked at Secter, expecting him to finish. His eyes had turned distant and grey.

"Well, that was a while ago," said Secter. "And besides, you don't want to hear any of that stuff anyways. We have a sister to get back!" He bolted upright, a big smile on his face.

Tatsumaki stared at him, her mood glum.

"Don't worry, we can fix this, together," said Secter.

"We'll see," said Tatsumaki.

"She really does care about you," said Secter. "She looked torn up to say those things about you."

"I guess a little…"

"Exactly. Now let's get up, no sense in sitting here all night."

Tatsumaki sighed, but rose from her seat. Despite clouds rolling in, everything seemed a bit brighter for her.

"Secter," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell anybody about this, ok? About what you heard, or what you saw."

"I won't."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," said Secter. "Do you really think I would just go around spilling personal stuff like that?"

"No, I guess not," said Tatsumaki. "You're…just…different, I suppose."

"A little bit," said Secter. "But you're starting to make more sense to me now. And I don't like seeing you like this."

"After all those fights, after all those insults," said Tatsumaki. "And you still want to help me."

"I do."

"I'll…think about it. But only because this is about something different, ok? Not because I'm weak or need to rely on anyone!"

Secter opened his mouth as if to speak, before shutting it again. He took a few seconds to compose himself.

"You're not weak," said Secter. "Nothing wrong with this."

"She didn't even know, by the way," said Tatsumaki. "That you were trying to distract me from her. She thought it was Saitama for some reason."

"Oh. Well…that's fine. Is Saitama a friend of hers?"

"Supposedly not."

"Oh…ok then. Well, I don't mind if she doesn't know I'm involved."

"I think that would be for the best," said Tatsumaki.

"Fair enough."


	3. Chapter 3

"You seem to be in a better mood today," said Bang, eying Secter.

Secter nodded, before taking another sip of his tea.

"Think I'm getting the hang of things," said Secter.

The doors to the dojo opened and in walked Charanko, one hand still in a cast from last time.

"Sensei," said Charanko, bowing to the sitting Bang. "And…what was your name again?"

"Secter."

"Right," said Charanko. He turned back to Bang. "Sensei, I got a letter from some little community over in C-city! Telling me how much they appreciate my efforts!"

"Well, that's nice, Charanko," said Bang. "Good to have a little appreciation every now and again."

"You deserve it, Charanko," said Secter. "You seem like the type who's not willing to give up."

"Of course I won't!" said Charanko. "I'm going to train, and train, until I become the best!"

"You do that," said Secter. "Just don't lose sight of what's around you."

Bang nodded in agreement, sipping away at his own tea.

"Right," said Charanko. "Well, I'm going to go frame this letter or something, see you guys in a bit!"

He ran off to a different area of the dojo, disappearing from sight.

Bang sighed, before setting his cup onto the floor.

"Things have been tough since the fight with the Monster Association," he said. "I was hoping to get a whole new group of trainees but it seems like people have been frightened lately."

"Monster Association?" asked Secter. In truth, he had seen some of the fights through the memories of others through mind-searches, but the images were scattered and vague due to him deciding not to push deeper.

"A former disciple of mine, along with several other powerful monsters, nearly destroyed a good number of S-class," said Bang. "Even Tornado herself struggled with the fight. She went all out when my former disciple claimed he had killed her sister, and even then, she was defeated."

Secter had not seen this in the previous mind search. Part of him wished that he had.

"Huh," said Secter. "So she really does care about her sister."

"She does," said Bang. "Even if she has an odd way of showing it."

 _If only you knew,_ thought Secter. Another sip of his tea left him feeling disappointed as the last dregs found their way into his stomach.

"And you were there too?" asked Secter.

"I was. I couldn't stop him. Garou, that is."

"What happened to Garou?"

"He escaped. Defeated by Saitama, no less."

"This Saitama guy seems strong for what, A-class?"

"Yes, I think so. He certainly is much stronger than he appears."

"System's even more flawed than I thought," said Secter.

"You really do seem to harp on its flaws," said Bang. "Do you really care that much for the lower classes?"

"They're in the most danger, for the least amount of benefits," said Secter. "I…I can relate to that."

"Not confident in your own abilities? Remember, you stopped an attack from Flash once, as well as one from me."

"No, it's not that," said Secter. "It's something…different. Something personal."

"Ah, I see. Well perhaps one day you will feel comfortable enough to tell me about it."

"Not sure," said Secter. "It's not a happy story. Not one I like to recall."

"Hmm," said Bang.

"Well," said Secter. "Maybe I can help you with this whole dojo thing."

"What do you mean?"

"You said you're having trouble finding some recruits, well, I might be able to help with that."

"How so?" Bang's eyebrows raised in interest, his shoulders perking up.

"Well, I'm not exactly the most popular hero or anything, but I do know someone who might owe me a favor," said Secter. "I might be able to arrange something."

"Who might this be?" asked Bang.

"Well, nothing's set in stone yet. But, with the way things are going, I might just be able to figure something out."

"That…would be greatly appreciated. Somehow my words mean little these days."

"Ah, don't worry Bang. Lots of people still respect you, I'm sure."

"Now if only they would find the time to come train."

Time flew by as the two talked. When the sun started to dip, Bang and Secter said their goodbyes, with Bang promising that he would find someone for Secter to train with.

"And if I don't, there is always me," said Bang. "You seem reluctant to fight, but I would like to test your abilities."

"We'll see," said Secter, doubt coating his mind.

Secter made his way down from the dojo, red rays of sunlight illuminating his way. A few steps away strode a samurai with a flowing robe, who stopped when he saw Secter heading his way.

 _Who's that?_ thought Secter. _Oh, Atomic Samurai._

"Hey there," said Secter. "You going up to see Bang? He's up in the-"

Atomic Samurai shouldered past Secter, with Secter stumbling off to the side at the sudden force.

"Or you could just do that," said Secter. "If you wanted to be an asshole."

Atomic Samurai glanced back at Secter, a string of wheat hanging from his mouth.

"I don't have time for you," said Atomic Samurai. "I only acknowledge the strong, not some fledgling student of Bang."

"And that's what makes you weak," said Secter. "Funny how that works."

"Are you insulting me?" asked the scowling samurai.

"I am."

"You're that same person who crashed the hero party," said Atomic Samurai. "The one who stopped Flash's attack."

"Apparently I get around," said Secter. "What an honor."

"It takes skill to be able to do something like that. But you're still nothing until you join."

"Well, I guess I'll stay nothing then, because I'm not joining. Your organization is broken as hell anyways, just go ask Bang. He did leave, after all."

Atomic Samurai flashed his sword at Secter, the blade glistening in the evening sun. Secter narrowed his eyes as the light shone into his face.

"This," said Atomic Samurai. "Has been the instrument of destruction of untold numbers of monsters. You might be able to stop Flash's blade, but you'll never be able to stop an atomic cut."

"You're as insecure as they come," said Secter. "Threatening a newbie with your shiny sword. What, do you think I'm a threat to you or something?"

"I deserve proper respect."

"You'll never get respect acting like that. Take a few notes from Bang, there's a person I respect."

"I respect him as well," said Atomic Samurai. "But you'd do well to learn your place."

"Place?" asked Secter. "Place? There are heroes, and that's it. Some are stronger than others, but none are worthy of disrespect. Even the most irritating, foul-mouthed of heroes deserve some appreciation, so long as they live up to their names as heroes."

"Actual heroes win fights," said Atomic Samurai.

"Actual heroes don't start them," said Secter. "Not with people who are supposed to be their allies."

Atomic Samurai snorted, and slid his blade into place.

"I see," he said. "You don't believe me to be a proper hero, is that right?"

"Well right now, you're just being kind of an asshole," said Secter. "There's no reason to-"

A blade swiped through the air, faster than Secter could blink. From one moment, it was housed in Atomic Samurai's sheath, the next it was speeding towards his chest, moving in impossible arcs as it went. Secter raised an eyebrow at the samurai's move, and watched as the blade drew closer to the middle of his ribcage. Right as the sword was about to touch his chest, Secter's hand sliced through the middle of the weapon. Then through the tip. Next, the bottom of the blade. Then he slashed his hand downwards, watching it pass soundlessly and effortlessly through the sword hundreds of times until finally, Atomic Samurai stopped his weapon in place.

The two of them stood there, a smirking samurai on one end and an irritated nobody on the other. Atomic Samurai kept his blade pointed to Secter's chest, the tip of it nearly poking through his shirt.

"I'll bet you didn't even see that," said Atomic Samurai. "Let alone comprehend it. Let this serve as a reminder of my power, that I could chop you to bits without you even noticing-"

His blade fell to pieces, little hunks of metal cascading down the steps as Atomic Samurai was left pointing only a golden hilt at Secter. The samurai's eyes widened, and he looked down at the missing element that was his sword.

"You're a pathetic man," said Secter. "Why not find a better hobby in the meantime, like rock climbing? You know, so you can find a way off of that ledge where you look down at people from."

 _Ooh, that's a good one,_ thought Secter as he smiled to himself. _I should write that down or something._

Atomic Samurai stared at Secter, a mix of confusion and perturbation swirling in his features. He slid what was left of his sword back into its sheath.

"I'm not sure what gimmick you did to do that," said the samurai. "No one can move that fast, not even King."

"King?"

"Don't play dumb," said Atomic Samurai. "And I'll figure out what you did, you wannabe hero. Maybe this blade is of poor quality."

"You're the second person to use that excuse," said Secter. "Maybe just give credit where credit is due."

"You haven't taken the hero test, right?"

"No. And I won't."

"Figures. You _are_ a coward."

"What? I just blasted your sword apart!"

"And yet you're too scared to really test yourself, in the test and maybe even against other heroes," said Atomic Samurai. "Come to me again, once you've taken the test for real."

The samurai continued his way up the steps, hiding his anger and confusion from Secter by turning away. Secter shook his head but did the same, walking the dim road back towards home.

. . .

As Secter neared his home, someone decided to throw a bus into his front door. Obliterating over half of the house that it flew through, the bus came to a stop inside his home, as if some invisible passengers were waiting inside to get off at his living room.

Secter's mouth hung agape at the sight. He cranked his head towards the direction the bus came from. In the distance, what looked to be a giant totem pole with spikes running all the way down shivered and contorted, lifting other cars and snack stands all around its sides through telekinetic power.

As Secter ran to the spot, more cars flung themselves at him. One by one, he swerved and ducked under the oncoming sky-high traffic, before stopping when he got to the base of the totem pole. The pole, standing fifty stories high, had toothy, demonic faces laughing at people all around it on every layer, each section adorned with glowing eyes.

One of the spikes extended out from the side of the pole and shifted itself into a black blade, which swiped at Secter as he drew close. Secter leapt over the sword-arm, which passed below him before colliding with a nearby sweets shop.

Secter glanced all around him, and saw that crowds of people were bolting away from the evil pole, screaming and shouting for help. The pole laughed at them, and more cars began to rip themselves from the ground, some of which saw its occupants barely jump out in time before the cars were launched at the fleeing crowd. Each one of the cars disintegrated into dust in the sky, and the pole's expression changed from glee to shock as it witnessed all of its projectiles change to grey dirt in mid-air.

"Don't think so," said Secter. He began to pull out his gun, readying himself to fire.

Above him, swirls of green energy began to materialize from out of nowhere, surrounding the monstrous construct until it vanished beneath a whirlwind of tearing colors. Secter looked up to see Tatsumaki floating near some buildings, one arm raised towards the tornado.

"You got this one?" he shouted up to her.

Tatsumaki peered down at him.

"Go home!" she yelled. "Stay out of the way!"

"You serious," muttered Secter to himself. "After all those attempts to beat me, and you still don't think I can't handle something like this. Well, I guess to be fair, I didn't show you any offensive moves."

Layers of the totem pole began to shatter and fly out from the hurricane of psychic energy, expressions of pain and anger etched on what was left of them. Tatsumaki shook her head at the exploding monster, waiting for it to be entirely disintegrated.

A dark scythe, twenty feet in length, extended out from the side of the tornado and swung itself at the distracted Tatsumaki. Within seconds, Tatsumaki gasped as the scythe connected with her stomach and sliced its way through. Blood tore itself from the gaping wound, following the scythe as it moved away from the esper. Tatsumaki faltered, her hand shooting to her stomach in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. As she lowered her palm, the tornado faded to reveal a torn-up, but still moving demonic pole. It laughed at Tatsumaki, before levitating a chunk of a building and hurling it into her face. Tatsumaki swerved to avoid the impact, but was caught by a smaller section of debris in the back, and she was flung backwards into the building behind her before crashing into the ground below.

"Tatsumaki!" yelled Secter. He saw her lift herself from the rubble, her eyes watering but her fists clenched in hate.

Secter glared over at the pole, which turned to face him, dozens of blade-arms at the ready.

"Now you're really gonna get it," said Secter. He raised his gun, pistol pointed at the middle of the monster.

"I've got this!" yelled Tatsumaki, pulling herself up while blood dripped off of her midsection. "Get out of here!"

She raised her arm, levitating the totem pole higher and higher. It shrieked at her, swiping at her with its arms but unable to reach. Tatsumaki smirked at the creature, and began to flex her fingers. One by one, the sections of the pole exploded, each face turning from fury to fear as it witnessed its layer below it detonate in an explosion of wood and guts. What was left of the pole screamed in pain, and retracted most of its ghastly arms within itself. It began to rotate against Tatsumaki's wishes, and she grunted and wheezed to try and snap the creature back into place.

The pole flipped itself to have the top layer point at Tatsumaki, and as the last few layers waited to explode, the uppermost part of the pole popped open to spew a black beam at Tatsumaki. Secter began to move to stand in front of the beam and deflect it, but Tatsumaki darted out of the way, only to collide into another sword-arm, this one hidden behind the beam that had blocked Tatsumaki's vision. It sliced upwards, catching Tatsumaki in the forearms and skinning the bottoms of them. Cloth and flesh alike were shredded as Tatsumaki held up her arms to defend herself, and she was knocked to the ground by the impact. As she hit the dirt, her shoulders tensed, and her arms began to shake and tremble with rage.

"Alright, that's it!" said Secter. "I'm finishing this!"

"No!" yelled Tatsumaki. "It's almost dead, just caught me off-"

Secter fired at the pole, which had no time to escape the yellow beam of destruction which completely enveloped it. As the shot disappeared, the pole was revealed to no longer exist. A flurry of dust flew forth from where the demonic construct once was, and the laughing was no more.

Tatsumaki picked herself up, wincing from the pain in her stomach and forearms. She shuffled over to Secter, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I told you I had it," said Tatsumaki. "And you didn't listen. You never fucking listen."

"You were getting hurt," said Secter. "Even if you were about to win, there was no reason to risk it any further."

"I had it! You had no right to take that kill away from me!"

"The hell are you talking about? I was just helping to finish it off!"

"I don't need help."

"Yes you do."

"I don't want your help."

"Then what was yesterday about?"

A low, guttural sound came from Tatsumaki's mouth, a mix between a growl and a sigh.

"That was…different. I was…at a moment of…"

"Desperation?"

"Yes! Desperation! I only reached out to you because I felt I had no choice!"

"So are you saying that you don't want me to help," said Secter. "Because that's up to you, I just thought I could…"

"I can fix it myself," said Tatsumaki. "What are you even going to do? Fubuki barely knows you!"

"And yet she'd be more likely to approach me than you," said Secter. "She might not know me well, but her group knows that I was trying to help her get away."

"Don't get involved anymore," said Tatsumaki. "I can do this on my own."

"Fine," said Secter. His voice dripped with defeat. "Do what you want."

"Were you trying to crack me open that whole time?" asked Tatsumaki. "Get me to feel weak or something?"

"You just…didn't make sense to me. I wanted to understand, because I felt that you weren't really a bad person. That you had to be pushing people away for a reason."

"I…" began Tatsumaki. "Look, just go home, ok?" Her mind began to flutter, and even she was at a loss for words. "You…you don't need to get involved with any of this. It's not for you."

"It's fine," said Secter, his voice still heavy and his head drooping. "If you don't want me around, I'll respect what you wish."

Tatsumaki wasn't sure if she liked what she saw. Normally, seeing Secter in a state of defeat would have sent her laughing like a madwoman, but his voice drained her of energy for some reason.

People began to crowd the two of them, unaware of the previous conversation. Secter looked up to see groups of adoring and cheering citizens, and he gasped at the sight.

"Tatsumaki!" yelled the people. "Tornado! You saved us!"

Tatsumaki's eyes widened at the encircling group of people, and she stood up straighter, one hand still glued to her stomach.

"She's hurt!" said someone in the crowd. "Someone get her a doctor!"

"Is this man bothering you, Tatsumaki?" asked another stranger. He pointed at a shocked Secter, who watched the crowd with sweaty palms and a nervous shake.

"He just needs to go home," said Tatsumaki.

Before anyone could get to Secter, he was shouldering his way through the crowd, and began his march back home. Tatsumaki watched him as he went, a small sigh escaping her lips. She watched as he strode up to his place of residence, still adorned with a bus halfway through his living room.

. . .

Tatsumaki's new tv was just as tall as the old one, and she munched down on popcorn as a news program came on. Scratching at the bandage on her stomach underneath her clothes, she grumbled as she reached around for the remote yet failed to find it. Turning away from the television to grasp around in the dark, she recognized the remote as it lay on the other side of the couch near one of her pillows. She stretched to grab it, the tv playing as she did so.

"So, with the advent of the hero hunter, are there any others you would say serve as an impediment to heroism?" asked an interviewer on the program.

"Well, there will always be monsters of course, and pretenders within the association, but recently, there have been accounts of a coward named Secter," said Atomic Samurai.

Tatsumaki grasped the remote, but her attention was affixed to the television.

"Oh?" asked the reporter. "Who is this Secter?"

Another person on the small panel of heroes chimed in.

"He's just a nobody who refuses to take the hero test," said Flashy Flash. "People like him make my skin crawl, when they pretend to be better than they are."

"Yes," said Atomic Samurai. "He's more of a punk, not worth mentioning."

"Definitely not a real hero, whatever he may say," said Flash.

Tatsumaki sat, unsure of what to make of the conversation. A sliver of pity floated around in her mind for Secter, but she pushed it away quick. She clenched the remote in her hand, and listened as the interviewer steered the conversation to merchandising. Clicking the power button at the top, the tv went black, and Tatsumaki slipped on a coat before heading outside.

She walked to a nearby café and strode over to the counter. Tatsumaki ordered herself a sandwich and a cookie, before sitting down and waiting while the workers blasted their way through the order.

 _This was your favorite place, wasn't it Fubuki?_ thought Tatsumaki. _They always did make good cookies here…_

Her order came up, to the initial dismay and subsequent understanding of the others who had been in line before the esper had even arrived. As Tatsumaki turned away from the counter, bag of food in hand, she spotted a tall, black-haired woman eating in a dark corner of the café. Tatsumaki froze. She stared at the woman for a second before drawing closer, and could just barely make out what looked to be a fur coat over the woman's shoulders.

"Fubuki?" asked Tatsumaki.

The woman looked up from her meal, confusion on her face and blue eyes staring into Tatsumaki's soul.

"Hmm?" asked the woman.

"Nothing, nevermind," said Tatsumaki. She turned her head down to hide the rising wave of embarrassment that burned her face. As she made her way towards the entrance to the café, she nearly collided with someone who was just now entering. Peering up, Tatsumaki's food almost slipped from her fingers, and she had to swipe her other hand underneath the bag to keep it from falling.

Fubuki stood before her. The psychic sister's eyes were dark, and her expression was unreadable as Tatsumaki stumbled aside to let her in.

Neither of them said anything as Fubuki walked past.

 _Come on, say something, say something!_ thought Tatsumaki. _Just…why does it have to be here, in front of all these people?_

Fubuki got in line for her order.

 _If she were outside, or anywhere else, I'd say something,_ thought Tatsumaki. _I'd…I don't know, tell her she was being irrational. Or no, that wouldn't work. Maybe…maybe apologize?_

The mere thought of it made Tatsumaki cringe. But nothing else made sense to her at that moment.

She gave a glance over at Fubuki, who had her back turned to her. Opening her mouth to speak, Tatsumaki could find neither the will nor the words to form any sort of phrase. Defeated, she started to walk out, but caught a glimpse of Fubuki looking back at her, shiny lines at the bottom of her eyelids. Tatsumaki gasped, a lump coagulating within her throat. She left the café, her own eyes beginning to sting, and pushed her way through the startled faces of the Fubuki group until she was alone.

A nearby bench provided refuge for the saddened Tatsumaki, and she plopped down onto the wooden seat. Not a soul was anywhere near her, and she pulled out her sandwich. Munching down on it, she spent the next half hour eating her meal and staring off into the sky, as if hoping some sort of answer could be found up there. Unfortunately, the stars gave no sign of providing any kind of remedy, and Tatsumaki finished off her cookie before throwing the bag into the trash.

The walk home was dark, and a light drizzle forced Tatsumaki to throw up the collar on her coat. She muddled through a fine mist of rain, before a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"You seriously going to pull that shit as I'm standing here?" asked Secter. "Uh, I mean pull that crap…as I'm standing here?"

Tatsumaki slid over to a nearby wall, and peered over the edge to see Secter standing in the middle of a street below her. Across from him was a short demon, its arms twisted in opposite directions to form a ridiculous pose. Behind Secter were a couple of kids and two adults, all terrified at the sight of the demon. The adults pulled the children in closer, away from the sight of the posing monster.

"Silence, fool!" shrieked the demon. "Once I am finished charging my devil horn blast beam, you and all those foolish little brats will be nothing but ashes!"

"Is that right," said Secter. "And how long does it take to charge that?"

"But a few seconds!" yelled the demon. "And once it's done, you're all gonna die a painf-"

The demon's upper half burst apart at the force of Secter's fist, red chunks of gore catapulting out into the street. Secter stood back from the carnage to watch the lower half of the demon topple to the ground, before shaking his head.

"Thank you sir!" yelled one of the adults, standing to her feet. "To who do we owe the pleasure of our saving?"

"Oh, my name's Secter," he said. "And sorry about the swearing, I tried to change it at the last minute and only ended up…saying two words instead of one."

"Wait, Secter?" asked the other adult. "You're that one on tv!"

Tatsumaki's narrowed her eyes at the group.

"Uh, no?" asked Secter. "I wasn't?"

"Yes you were, you're the coward who wouldn't take the test!" shouted the man. "Come on kids, let's go."

The woman gasped.

"Oh my God, he's right!" she shouted. "Some hero you are. You're an insult to people like the S-class."

"What?" asked Secter. His face was entrenched in confusion, but his eyes gleamed with sadness. "What do you mean?"

"You're a coward who wouldn't take the test," said the woman. "You're just posing, saving us to try and look like some cool outsider."

"I didn't realize outsiders were cool nowadays," said Secter. "And no, that isn't why I helped you-"

"We don't need to hear anymore," said the man. "For all we know, you set up this meeting with the monster, let it get close to us before you could swoop in, all so you could make yourself look better!"

"No," said Secter. "No, that doesn't make sense."

"It does when you're trying to show up the S-class," said the woman. "I heard it myself, you are a troublemaker and a punk who's only trying to be a hero to try and make yourself look better than the poor people in the Hero Association. Trying to discredit them all."

"That's the opposite of what I'm doing!" said Secter.

"We probably could've gotten away from that demon ourselves," said the man. "He was taking a little while to charge his attack anyways."

"You sicken me," said the woman. "How could you treat being a hero like this."

Secter looked as if the woman had just ripped her own head off and was about to toss it at him like a bowling ball.

"Let's go," said the woman. "Can't stand the sight of people like you."

"I agree," said the man. "Hey, you kids want to get some ice cream? Maybe there we can see posters of _real_ heroes."

The family strode away, laughing and talking amongst themselves as Secter stood dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki watched as Secter blinked himself back into reality and began to walk away, sloshing through growing puddles of rain and mud.

 _Surely he can't let stupid stuff like that get to him,_ she thought. _As stupidly optimistic and egotistic he gets at times._

Yet Secter's head hung low as he walked, and as he vanished from view, Tatsumaki slid down from her perch, her back to the wall and the street below. She let out a sigh, and clambered over the wall in pursuit of him. Wandering down streets and alleyways, no sign of Secter could be found anywhere.

 _He probably just went home,_ she thought. _Maybe…maybe I'll just check up on him real quick. Something fast, like a quick greeting or something._

She flew to the front of Secter's house, and to her surprise, the place looked intact. The only difference was that Secter's front door had been replaced with a metal sliding one, the same kind one would encounter before boarding a bus. Tatsumaki snorted at the sight of it, before walking up to the entrance. Knocking on the door gave no answer, and Tatsumaki tapped her foot in frustration. Another knock, and no response aside from the rattling of the steel doorframe. She swiveled away from the entrance, and began to walk off, before halting in place.

 _Just one more time,_ she thought. _Maybe he didn't hear or something._

This time, she knocked again, and tugged at the door a little. To her surprise, it opened with little force required. Tatsumaki stepped inside, and gawked at the new entrance hallway, which was built with the metal insides of the bus. It felt as if she were headed to the back of a long vehicle as she neared the living room. Stepping out from the bus's skeleton, she took a step into Secter's kitchen, which was filled with messy dishes and a recipe book covered in grease stains. Tatsumaki wandered in further, her vision cut off by dark shadows encompassing the walls and furniture. She stopped once she saw the hallway to his bedroom, door closed to the inside.

 _This is stupid,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Why am I even doing this? Knowing my luck lately, he's probably going to step through the front door as soon as I try to leave, and I'm going to have to explain why I'm in his house like some kind of common criminal._

She shook her head and turned to leave, but a giant splotch on the wall caught her eye. Tatsumaki squinted at it, struggling to get a good look within the darkness. Frustrated at her lack of vision, she illuminated herself with psychic power to see. She gasped at what she saw.

The blotch on the wall was a bright red, freshly shed blood. A trail, wide as a torso, stretched out from the stain all the way down to the floor, and from the floor it traveled to Secter's bedroom door.

Tatsumaki gawked at the mess. Following it to Secter's door, she grabbed the handle and creaked it open. Inside, there was a lump underneath the covers, that rose before falling in harsh, stuttered breaths.

The trail led up to Secter's bed, blood wiped all over his sheets and bedding. A little trashcan, with a shiny inside liner sat next to the bed, the top ring of the can splattered with tiny drops of red.

Tatsumaki's light faded as she crept closer.

"Secter?" she asked. "Is that you?"

Underneath the blanket, a pair of eyes peered out at Tatsumaki. Followed by a head as Secter pulled himself out from under the sheets.

Tatsumaki's eyes widened in horror. One side of Secter's face was coated in blood, and streaks of red dripped through his ruffled hair. A grey pallor encompassed his expression, as if he had been struggling with disease for years. His reaction to her was about the same as hers was to him.

"No…" said Secter. "Tatsu, why are you…here."

His voice was weak, and Tatsumaki had to strain to hear what he was saying.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Tatsumaki. "Did you get attacked on the way home or something?"

"I…" Secter swallowed. It looked as if it was killing him to even try to speak.

"No, that doesn't make sense," said Tatsumaki. "There's not even any blood outside. It's…only in here. Did a monster follow you in here?"

"Agh."

"And how bad is it? I see a lot of blood, but I don't see all of-"

She noticed something hanging down from the side of his bed, twisted and bloody. At first, she thought it was his arm, but then a hand appeared from underneath the covers to push the hanging entity back inside. Tatsumaki froze.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Please leave," said Secter. "Please. It'll be better soon, I promise…"

"What the fuck was that?!" she shouted. Tatsumaki pointed at the spot where the unknown appendage used to be. "Alright, that's it. I'm lifting the covers."

"Don't. Please don't." His voice was nothing but gasps and whispers now.

Tatsumaki raised her hand and the sheet came with it. She steadied herself for what might come, but when the blanket was lifted off of Secter, she had to gulp down a ball of bile that tried to force its way out of her throat.

The appendage was still there, but Secter had both his hands on top of it, trying to force it back to its rightful spot with the rest of his intestines. A massive gash adorned the lower section of his torso, along with various other bloody cuts of different sizes all over his body. From the looks of them, they were fresh, and were dumping blood onto his sheets. Some of the cuts had brownish bandages hastily clumped together over them, many of which were falling off or were completely soaked through.

"Oh my God," said Tatsumaki. "You need to go to a hospital."

"No," said Secter. He started to turn away from her, but a painful gasp blasted forth from his mouth and he pulled himself back. Tears were flowing from his eyes, and no matter how tightly he shut them, he could not staunch the flow.

"No hospitals," he said.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki. "Are you crazy? Your _intestines_ are bulging out, Secter! You're…you're going to die like this!"

"No hospitals," said Secter. "Trust me, Tatsu…I'll die if I go to one of those."

"What did this to you?"

"Monster."

Tatsumaki eyed him up and down, her face turning pale at the sight of him. Secter was a corpse on top of his blanketed coffin, his mouth was slightly ajar and his hands clutched at the mounds of pink gore that threatened to slide out from his stomach. Tatsumaki could see his arms pushing down to the beat of his breathing – slow and jittery. She swallowed.

"If it was a monster, you'd think there'd be more destruction in the house," said Tatsumaki. "But there's nothing…the house looks fine aside from your blood everywhere."

Secter groaned.

"I'm going to lift you now, ok? Just…just hold on…I guess, and I'll get you out of here."

"Why help," said Secter.

"What?"

"Why bother?"

Tatsumaki's expression changed from horror and sickness to confusion.

"Well, I'm not going to let you _die,_ for fuck's sakes," she said. "You might get on my nerves, but this…this is too much. Way too much."

"Don't lift me," said Secter.

"You won't be able to resist me in such a weakened state," said Tatsumaki. "Just keep your hands on your…intestines. I'll be gentle."

Tatsumaki started to raise her arm, but despite her efforts, Secter would not move.

"What?" she asked. "Secter! Stop resisting me! How are you even-"

"No hospitals," said Secter. "Never."

"Then what's the plan then, huh? Just lie here until you bleed out and die?"

Her voice trembled at the last few words.

"No…go to the bathroom," said Secter.

"What?"

"Under the sink, there's some syringes, and bandages," said Secter. "I need them. Please, hurry. It hurts."

"Alright, I will," said Tatsumaki. She backed away from Secter, for a moment keeping her eyes trained on the blood and tears which were trickling down his face. Turning away, she walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinets beneath the sink.

There were not but a few syringes and bandages that were encased inside the cabinet. Instead, there were mountains of them. Stacks of glowing gauze and rolls of bandages were all neatly arranged in the cabinet which stretched back into the wall. Several metal cases were also present, one of which was open with layers upon layers of syringes inside. Each one of the syringes had a neon yellow liquid within it, and Tatsumaki gawked at the collection for a moment before grabbing a couple of syringes and as many bandages as she could carry.

Bringing them back to the bloody mess that was Secter, she approached the side of the bed, her arms shaking.

"I…brought some back," said Tatsumaki. "Didn't realize how much you needed."

"One syringe," said Secter. "Will take lots of gauze."

"You bled through a lot already."

"It's ok…I…Tatsu, move!"

Tatsumaki blinked in confusion before jerking out of the way, fear in her eyes. Secter tossed over to one side, his cheeks puffed out and sweat creating a thick sheen over his forehead. With one arm, he pulled the trash can closer to him, and with a heave, Secter vomited into it. Gushes of chunky blood and foul-smelling liquid spewed forth from his throat into the trash can. One rush of blood was followed by another, then another as Secter seemed to puke out what was left of his blood supply into the can. He eventually stopped at one point, before letting out a pathetic little burp and turning back into his original position.

"Ughhhhh," he said.

Tatsumaki, meanwhile, had dropped most of the bandages and syringes to turn away from the scene, holding up a hand to her face to try and mask the smell. Acrid and metallic, the stench of the vomit rose up through Tatsumaki's fingers and pierced her skull to her brain, and Tatsumaki shuddered as she suppressed her own urge to puke. Picking up the syringes in one hand, her other clamped over her nose and mouth, she carried herself back over to Secter and offered a needle to him.

Secter extended a hand, his fingers almost unwilling to unfold to allow him to grab the syringe. Shaking and grunting, Secter took the syringe from Tatsumaki and pulled it into his other arm, releasing a rush of breath as he did so. Dropping the syringe to the ground, he looked over at Tatsumaki, his face turning from turmoil to ease.

"Tatsu…" he said. "I'll need the bandages next."

"Don't die, Secter," said Tatsumaki, shaking her head. "Don't die."

"Won't… Need bandages."

"You were literally puking your guts out, I don't even know how you are still alive right now."

"Bandages…"

"Right," said Tatsumaki. She picked the gauze up from the ground and handed it to him, watching with mounting guilt as Secter struggled to tear the old bandages off from his wounds and apply the new ones.

 _Just help him, you asshole,_ thought Tatsumaki. _There's no shame in this, it's not like he'll even remember anyways._

Tatsumaki reached out to Secter, and almost grabbed his arm to steady his hand. As she did so, Secter dropped a roll of gauze onto the side of the bed, and Tatsumaki went for that instead. She unrolled the bandage and looked over at Secter, who was staring up at the ceiling with dreary eyes. The fact that his chest was still moving reassured Tatsumaki, who took the last roll and wrapped it around a cut on his forearm.

 _There, I think that's good,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Huh, just like me._

She slid off the bed and circled around to the other side, ready to throw the blankets back over Secter. Pausing at the sight of the drenched covers, she looked over at Secter.

"Secter?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he said, his voice almost inaudible.

"Your blankets are kinda ruined," she said. "You have any others?"

"Closet."

Tatsumaki walked over to the closet and pulled the doors open. Within it, there were at least fifteen different kinds of sheets, comforters, and blankets of all kinds. Tatsumaki was taken aback at the collection, and pulled out another blanket only to see that it too was adorned with red stains, albeit dry ones.

 _Something's not right here,_ thought Tatsumaki. _The medical supplies, the shiny trash liner, fucking this. It's like he was prepared for something like this to happen._

She tore a blanket out from underneath the mounds of other comforters, and pulled it over to Secter, whose hands were still resting on his stomach. Tatsumaki laid the blanket over top of Secter, who relaxed deeper into the bed in response.

"Well, what happens now?" asked Tatsumaki. "Secter?"

"Sleep," said Secter.

"Secter, you have all this stuff around, like you were ready for this or had seen it before," she said. "What's going on?"

"No…no more questions," said Secter. "Only sleep."

Tatsumaki opened her mouth to speak again, but could see Secter's eyelids drooping farther and farther. She decided to head towards the door, but gave him another look before leaving.

"I'll be close by, ok?" said Tatsumaki. "If you need help…well, I'll be around."

"Ok," said Secter, his voice half-mumble. "And…thank you, Tatsu. Just…don't tell anyone about any of this. And no…hospital. If I wake in one, it won't be good."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok."

Tatsumaki shut the door behind her, her mind a haze of sickness and fear. She shuffled into the living room, where she found a couch to collapse into. She stared at a nearby wall, perplexed by the lack of tv where an empty spot indicated where there might've been one.

 _Oh right,_ she thought. _Bus._

No matter how hard she tried, Tatsumaki couldn't bring herself to sleep. She would check up on a dozing Secter three more times before she finally succumbed to dreaming away on the couch.

. . .

 _It's just wrong seeing him like this,_ Tatsumaki thought as she stretched from the couch. _He looks so…miserable. It's not like him. I mean, usually he looks kinda tired and all, but he was always upbeat and annoying, not…whatever this is._

Part of her was terrified to open the door to Secter's room, worried that she would find a stinking corpse on the other side. There was a foul odor coming from Secter's room, but it was little different than last night's, only now it had spread to the hallway. Tatsumaki pulled her dress over her nose before heading in.

Soldiering her way inside past the rush of vile stench, Tatsumaki managed to make it to the side of Secter's bed. To her relief, he turned to look at her.

His face was gaunt and pale, blood caked onto one of his cheeks and spread throughout his hair. Groaning, he shifted towards the end of his bed closer to Tatsumaki.

"You look worse than before," she said. "Are you sure this stuff – whatever it is, is going to work?"

"I feel somewhat better," said Secter.

"Can you regenerate or something, like Zombieman?" asked Tatsumaki.

"No," said Secter. "But I can heal pretty good, and that serum will help."

"What is that stuff?"

"Healing serum."

"Can you be more specific?"

"High-quality healing serum."

Tatsumaki sighed, and lowered her dress from her face. The smell had begun to air out a bit by now, but Secter's bedding was soaked yet again and reeked all the same.

"Are your…you know, your guts back in place?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Don't think so, try not to move," said Secter. "Hurts real bad."

"I imagine," said Tatsumaki. Her stomach itched, and Tatsumaki reached down to scratch at her bandages.

"You really weren't supposed to see any of this," said Secter. "I don't know…why you were here. In my house."

"Well, I… I saw you fight that demon with the family behind you," said Tatsumaki. "And just thought the whole thing was stupid, and was going to tell you that. But you disappeared, and somehow made it back home fast enough to be attacked or something."

"Yeah. But you were going to talk to me? Really?"

"Yes," said Tatsumaki. "As…annoying as you can be, I didn't think what happened was fair. Those people were being impolite."

"That's putting it mildly," said Secter. He coughed, a violent upheaval that sent him halfway up to an almost sitting position. Regretting his decision to move, Secter collapsed back down onto the bed, his eyes bulging in pain and specks of blood dotting his lips.

"Seriously," said Tatsumaki. "We need to get you to serious medical care."

"No, just the serum will do."

"And how do you know you'll live?"

No response.

"And you mentioned I wasn't supposed to see this," said Tatsumaki. "What do you mean by that?"

"No one was supposed to," said Secter. "I don't want people to see me like this, they don't need to worry about something like this."

"Something like what? You?"

Secter groaned and turned away from Tatsumaki. After some ragged breathing, he flipped back over towards her, both hands clenched to his lower abdomen. Tatsumaki watched him, unsure of what to make of what he said.

"You need any more of that stuff?" she asked.

"No, not now," said Secter.

"You're lucky I'm here then. Otherwise, you could've died."

"I would've managed."

"Your fucking intestines were hanging out, Secter! What were you going to do, crawl to the bathroom?"

"I guess."

Tatsumaki threw her hands up in defeat, before slapping them back down to her sides.

"Look, how are you even going to eat with your insides like that," she said.

"Don't need to," said Secter. "Although water would be nice. Probably not a good idea though."

"You don't…need to. You don't need to eat?"

"I can go a while without eating."

"Alright, fine. So what are you going to do then, just lie there until you get better? What about those cuts? Are any of them going to need surgery? And what if they get infected or something?"

"All problems for later."

"You really are crazy," said Tatsumaki, her arms crossed and irritation flickering across her face.

"I told you, only mildly." He managed a small, yet pained, smile.

"Uh huh," said Tatsumaki, not returning the expression.

Secter reached out for his nightstand, and Tatsumaki watched as his hand neared a tennis ball that was sitting next to his bedside lamp. Grabbing the ball in one shaky hand, he pulled it down from its perch and brought it closer to him. As he moved it, the ball collided with the side of his trash can and Secter lost his grip. He watched in horror as the ball tumbled inside.

"Oh no," he said, his voice swept by despair. To Tatsumaki's confusion, Secter started to cry, his body quivering to the tune of his sobs.

"It's just a tennis ball, calm down," said Tatsumaki. At the raising of her finger, the ball rose from the depths of the trash can, blood oozing off the side of where it had landed in the noxious pool below. Tatsumaki grimaced at the ball, before squinting her eyes at a set of black markings on the back of the object. On the end of the tennis ball, in faded black marker read:

FOR MY BIG BRO

Tatsumaki stared, perplexed at the writing on the ball. Then something clicked.

"Oh," she said. She levitated the ball back to the nightstand, her stomach flipping like a pancake. Bringing a hand to her midsection in hopes that it would quench the pain, Tatsumaki peered over at Secter, who by this point looked stiff and defeated.

"That's…that's a strange gift," said Tatsumaki.

"All he had," said Secter.

"Well, I'm sure we can get the stains out," said Tatsumaki. "And, uh…"

Her mind was at a loss for words. Desperately plucking at her thoughts, she felt scatter-brained and overwhelmed by what was happening. Straightening up, she pulled up a nearby chair and sat down across from Secter, who didn't even bother to look at her.

"I really wish you hadn't seen all this," said Secter. He gasped, as if to stifle another sob. "I hate this."

"Hate what?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Feeling like this, being like this. Having anyone see me like this. Especially you, really not you…"

"Why me?"

"You… ugh. I just don't like it, this wasn't how it was supposed to be."

"How was it supposed to be then?"

Secter pulled his hands away from his distended stomach and grasped the pillow to his left. He tossed the pillow over his head, as if trying to smother himself with it.

"Stop that," said Tatsumaki.

Secter groaned into the pillow, before letting it slide off of his face onto the ground. His eyes remained in a half-closed position.

"It was supposed to go fine, that's all," said Secter. "I would've helped you fix things with your sis, and then went on my merry way. Maybe could've seen if you could help bring people to Bang's dojo."

"Bang's dojo?" asked Tatsumaki. "How could I have helped with that?"

"I don't know, you seemed more popular so maybe people would've listened to you."

"As opposed to you."

"No one cares what I think. And that's fine, that's fine…"

Tatsumaki frowned. She scooted her chair closer to the bed.

"You know, you're always deflecting things," she said. "Not letting anyone get close to you. It took me a while to notice it, but you never like the attention to be on _you_."

Secter did his best to ignore her, but Tatsumaki could see his fists beginning to clench.

"Like, you never tried to take any credit for that totem pole, and looked uncomfortable with all those people looking at you. And…and you didn't ever tell Fubuki that you were helping her, did you? Trying to, anyways. And you keep saying that you don't care about people not appreciating you, but then spew all this crap about people needing to appreciate others who struggle to help them-"

"Shut up!" yelled Secter, his eyes ablaze. "Stop trying to analyze me! The hell do you even care for, you stupid midget!"

Tatsumaki bolted upright in her seat. Her back muscles tensed, as if she were getting ready to spring.

Secter deflated into his bedding, both arms sliding back over his guts.

"I didn't mean that," he said.

"Sure you didn't," said Tatsumaki. "Go on, tell me about how I look like a stupid little wretch then. Tell me how I look unnatural, like a child. Go on!"

"No, nothing like that…"

"You never did call me anything like that before," said Tatsumaki, her arms folded. "But here you are."

"I don't mean it…"

"Sure," said Tatsumaki. "Whatever you say."

Secter coughed again, sending waves of pain up and down his body. He gave Tatsumaki a pathetic look, before staring back up at the ceiling again.

"Why bother delving into all that crap?" asked Secter. "Why bring it up?"

"No reason," said Tatsumaki.

"No, no, you had a reason."

"You're steering the conversation to me."

"It's…" Secter's teeth ground together in pure frustration. "Because I want to know, goddamnit! Is it because…you also push people away?"

It was Tatsumaki's turn to be caught off-guard.

"I…" she began. "That's none of your business. I push people away because most aren't worthy of my time."

"Sure they aren't. Yet here you are."

"This is different! You were literally going to fucking die!"

"But you stayed. You could've left."

"Because I thought you were going to die!"

"I meant after you saw me a little while ago."

"Because you still might die!"

"I'm not going to die."

"You look like a corpse right now."

"I'll get better," said Secter. "But please, can we cut the analyzing crap already? I don't like it."

"You only don't like it when it's about you," said Tatsumaki. She gave a wry smile. "I know I'm right."

"Yes, alright, are you happy?" asked Secter. "Yes, I don't like having people focus on me. Is that so wrong?"

"There," said Tatsumaki. "Wasn't so hard, was it?"

"And you push people away because you're scared of being used, aren't you?" asked Secter. "This whole gimmick about you being strong, and Fubuki being strong, is because you don't want to appear weak to others who might use you. And you don't want Fubuki to seem that way either."

"People aren't to be trusted!" yelled Tatsumaki. "I told you, you have to be strong to survive in this world!"

 _I wonder if that's the fight or cell experience talking,_ thought Secter. _Wonder if I should delve into that further, although it looks too personal…_

"But you don't _have_ to push people away for them to think you're strong," said Secter. "People can get that impression by the things you do. And to be honest, not making any friends isn't going to put yourself in a good position to not be used by others."

"Don't talk to me about friends."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Well, how many friends do you have?"

"Uh, well, there's Bang, and I guess…"

"Outside of the Hero Association!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Or people who aren't heroes!"

"Why don't they count?"

"Bang's just talking to you because you go to his dojo, otherwise he wouldn't give you the time of day!"

"Well, you aren't exactly swimming in friends either!" yelled Secter. Flecks of blood flew from his scarred throat as he shouted, and Secter coughed again, only making the problem worse.

 _Fuck me,_ he thought. _I'm a goddamned mess._

"I told you, I don't need any!" yelled Tatsumaki.

"Doesn't seem to fit someone so alone," said Secter, his voice hoarse and weak.

"What did you say?"

"You seemed alone. Like when Fubuki…told you off, you looked real hurt."

"I wasn't…prepared for something like that," said Tatsumaki. "Being embarrassed at your own defeats and weaknesses is one thing, but Fubuki actually…hates me."

"You don't want that."

"No. No, I don't. If she leaves, she'll go to that group, and she'll always be held back-"

"It's more than that though," said Secter. "You love her."

"She's my sister," said Tatsumaki. "Of course I do."

"And if she leaves, you're alone."

"She won't leave! I just have to bring her back! Convince her how stupid this all is, and that I really was a good sister, she just has to-"

"You didn't seem like a good sister to me."

Tatsumaki leapt from her chair, her hair rising and glowing in the dark. Both her eyes were watery, but Tatsumaki leaned back into the shadows to avoid letting Secter see.

"Fuck you!" she yelled. "You don't know jack shit! About all the things I had to do to protect Fubuki, about everything I had to work for to get her where she is today! I-"

Tatsumaki stopped dead in her tracks, then began to chuckle to herself. Shaking her head, she crushed one of the armrests of the chair in her psychic grasp.

"Ohohoho," she said. "You're doing it again! And to think, you almost got me that time! You fucking asshole, you're using me for information! How did I not see this?"

"No, not using you," said Secter. "What could I hope to gain here?"

"I don't know!" yelled Tatsumaki. "What the hell do you want from me?"

"For you to be happy."

"What? That's it? That can't be it. Is that it?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Now please stop yelling, everything…hurts."

Tatsumaki's wisps of hair settled down, and she collapsed back in the chair. Consternation seeped into her voice as she spoke.

"You're the weak one here," said Tatsumaki. "So don't go trying to portray me as the one who needs help."

"I'll live," said Secter. "But there's still Fubuki-"

"No, _stop_. I know what my problems are. But you don't seem to realize yours. You're a fucking mess, Secter, just look at you. And I'm going to figure out what's going on here, whether you like it or not."

"Figure out what?"

"Whatever it is you're hiding from me. I know you're not telling the truth about this whole thing."

"There's nothing to hide."

"Uh huh. And yet you couldn't bear the fact that I saw all this."

Secter snarled at her.

"I fucking hate you right now," he said, although his voice was raspy and devoid of any real malice.

"Ha! Not so impervious now, aren't you?" asked Tatsumaki. "Looks like I'm the one who finally gets to look down on you, as opposed to the other way around."

"I never looked down on you."

"You know what I mean. Acted like you were in control. But you're not. You're just as weak as anyone else. And you know what? I'm kinda glad that I saw all this, because now I know the truth."

"You're…glad to see me like this?" asked Secter. Tatsumaki frowned at the hurt expression he gave her.

"No," she said. "No, you know what I meant. I didn't want something like this to happen to you, well, maybe a little while ago I would've wanted to really hurt you, but you get my point. Seeing you like this…it changes things."

"No it doesn't," said Secter. "It doesn't have to."

"Uh huh," said Tatsumaki. "Whatever you say." She rose from her chair, dark circles under her eyes. "Look, I have to go now. There's some things I have to take care of."

"You're leaving already?" asked Secter. His tone made Tatsumaki feel even more tired.

"Yes, I have to make sure monsters aren't rampaging through my city," said Tatsumaki. "Look, I'll be back alright? Do you need anything? Any more of those serum things?"

"No, not now."

"Alright then," said Tatsumaki.

Secter struggled to get to a sitting position, his face contorting in pain as he did so.

"Don't," said Tatsumaki. "Just don't. Don't try to get up, you're just gonna hurt yourself."

Secter slid back down in agreement.

"I'll be back soon, ok?" she said. "Try not to…you know, lose your guts."

"I'll do my best."


	4. Chapter 4

It was dark by the time Tatsumaki got back, having found little in the way of threats during her recon of the cities. She floated back down to Secter's bus-door, and couldn't help but smile at the stupid hallway that he had created. Stopping by the kitchen, she set down a couple of grocery bags filled with vegetables and meats. Next, she made her way into Secter's room.

The smell of blood still permeated the air, and Tatsumaki wrinkled her nose at the stench. Before her lay Secter, who was twitching and grumbling in his sleep. Tatsumaki placed a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him.

"Secter, wake up," she said.

Secter's eyes fluttered open. He looked at Tatsumaki, utter exhaustion on his face.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"Yeah," he muttered.

"I'm going to make myself some food. I know you probably can't even eat right now, but there'll probably be leftovers so…"

"Thanks, Tatsu."

"Don't worry about it."

"For a little while, I wasn't sure if you were going to come back."

"What? Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. Figured you went off to do something else."

"You're more or less my responsibility now, since you won't go to the goddamned hospital," said Tatsumaki. "I have to keep an eye on you so you don't die like an idiot."

Secter smiled at her. Tatsumaki felt an odd sensation, a rush of warmth rise up from her stomach to her chest. It was something she hadn't felt in a while.

"Thanks, Tatsu," he said. "I mean it."

"Yeah, yeah," she said. "And hey, what happened to all the not wanting me to see you like this kind of stuff?"

"I guess it's too late by now," said Secter. "Guess I just appreciate you sticking around…it's nice to know someone wants to help."

"Mmm," said Tatsumaki. "Well, just consider yourself lucky then. You won't always be able to rely on others for help."

"Sometimes it's the thought that counts. You know, thinking that others will."

Tatsumaki waved him away.

"Well," she said. "You look a bit better. Do you think you can stand?"

"Let me see," said Secter. He heaved himself upright, gasping in pain as his body moved. Slamming both hands onto his bed, he managed to lurch towards the end of his sleeping spot, both legs swaying off one end of the bed. Tatsumaki took a step back, ready to try and steady Secter should he start to fall to the floor. Secter pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his forehead to try and clean some of the crusty blood and sweat that adorned his scalp.

"God, you look terrible," said Tatsumaki.

"Thanks," said Secter.

"And you smell terrible too."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Your stomach looks better, at least."

"Yeah, I don't have to push it in anymore."

"That's…good," said Tatsumaki. She could feel some vomit burning the bottom of her throat.

"Now for the standing part," said Secter. Twitching and grunting, Secter lifted himself to his feet, looking as if the slightest wind would blow him over. As he stumbled forward, he found himself tipping a bit too far and saw the floor heading towards his face at mach speed. Tatsumaki darted forward to intervene, catching Secter's right arm and steadying him forward.

"Ah…" said Secter. "Harder than I thought."

"You're…heavy," said Tatsumaki. "Let's just go to the kitchen, ok?"

The two of them coordinated their steps until they made it into the light of the kitchen, where Secter found his way into a chair and slumped down. Tatsumaki walked over to the other side of the kitchen table and pulled out her ingredients, before catching sight of Secter's exposed guts over his muscled abdomen. Grimacing, Tatsumaki turned to the sink while Secter slid down further in his chair, half of his body out of sight under the table.

The stir-fry Tatsumaki was making filled the air with a delicious scent, and Secter listened to his bloody stomach growl as he swooned in his seat.

"That…smells amazing," said Secter. "I didn't know you could make stuff like that."

"I looked at your recipebook," said Tatsumaki. "There's some interesting ideas in here."

"Yeah," said Secter. "I like to cook."

"Me too."

"Oh, well there's one thing we have in common."

Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes at him over the rising steam of the stir-fry, before turning the back to the food. When it was done, she shut the stove off. Tatsumaki slid a portion onto a plate, and sat across from Secter, her mouth watering as she examined the meal.

"Fuck, I wish I could eat now," said Secter. "Maybe I could…"

"Don't risk it," said Tatsumaki. "With your stomach being as fucked up as it is. Maybe had you'd gone to the hospital, you'd have had a fixed stomach by now."

Secter groaned and slid even further down in his seat, almost to the point where he was lying down.

"Please don't talk to me about hospitals right now," said Secter. "It's the last thing I need."

"Why do you hate them so much?" asked Tatsumaki. She raised a lump of rice and steaming beef into her mouth before chowing down on the scrumptious food.

"I just do."

"Mmph," said Tatsumaki. "Needs more spice."

"Top cupboard, to the left," said Secter. He pointed her the way.

Tatsumaki got up from her seat and opened the cupboards, only to find rows of different spices, each stacked in lines on different layers of the cupboard and in alphabetical order.

"Huh," said Tatsumaki. "Kinda impressive. I always took you for a slob."

"I take my cooking seriously," said Secter, as he placed a hand over his heart. "Everything else in here? Ehhhhhh. I get to it when I get to it."

Tatsumaki grabbed what she needed and looked back over at the pile of dishes that crowded the inside of the sink.

"I can see that," she said.

Seasoning sprinkled onto her dish, Tatsumaki continued her eating, but at a more rapid pace. Secter watched her with envy, wishing that he could steal the entire pan of food for himself.

"I thought you said you can go a long time without eating," said Tatsumaki, mouth half-full of food.

"I can, but it isn't exactly pleasant," said Secter. "But I guess I just have to make do."

"You should clean yourself," said Tatsumaki. "Here."

She levitated a washcloth from beside the sink, turned on the water with her mind, and wet the cloth under the rushing liquid. As the water shut off, she pushed the cloth over to Secter. He snatched it up from the table and smeared his face and hair with it, managing to wipe off a good amount of the blood on his face and head.

"So," he said, setting the nasty washcloth to his side. "Where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tatsumaki.

"With Fubuki and all that," said Secter. "Do you have a plan?"

Tatsumaki's head lowered, and she shifted in her seat.

"No, not really," she said.

"We'll have to think of something."

"I saw her at the café not long ago, but she didn't talk to me."

"Maybe I could warm her up. She kinda knows me, maybe if I introduce myself back to her group they'll listen."

"Mmm."

"And I could tell her that you want to make things better," said Secter. "It won't be easy, believe me, but I think you can do it."

"And what exactly do you know about this kind of thing?" asked Tatsumaki. "About fixing something like this?"

"I've made many mistakes in my life," said Secter. "Like barging into people's personal business a bit too easy, or pissing people off who I probably shouldn't. But, I've also learned a lot, and I know about sibling problems and all that."

"But what do you know about this sort of thing?" asked Tatsumaki. "About me and her?"

"From what I can tell, Fubuki resents you because you were too controlling of her. I know what it's like to have to take orders from someone questionable, and I…uh, well, I can…"

"You can what?"

Secter cleared his throat.

"What I was saying is that I can also relate to having family members feel like they know everything better than you, and having their beliefs ultimately make you worse off."

Tatsumaki stopped mid-chew to gaze at Secter.

"You think I made her worse off?" she asked.

"In some ways, yeah," said Secter. "I mean, she's _terrified_ of you, so that's never a good sign."

Tatsumaki went back to being sullen and eating her food.

"Um," said Secter. "But I think she still really loves you and respects you, just is constantly forced to-"

"Compare herself to me?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Well, yes, but-"

"I made her whole life revolve around being strong, but it was always in comparison to me. Maybe that's why she resents me, because she could never measure up."

"Well hold on Tatsu, this is about you, not her."

"Hmm?"

"I mean yes, she resents you because she was always comparing herself to you, but the comparisons she makes are poisonous to her. Everything about her is inferior to you in her eyes, and to be honest, I don't know if she'll ever be as strong as you. And you just make this fact worse by trying to force her to put all her self-worth into being as strong as you are."

Tatsumaki's face was grave, and she let both her meal and her anger stew.

"I know you don't like to hear it," said Secter, as if in response to Tatsumaki's glower. "But you've hurt your sister by creating this kind of twisted relationship. You shouldn't be forcing her to fight you, you shouldn't treat her as if she can't think for herself. She's another living, breathing, human being, Tatsu. Maybe if you start treating her like one, she'll start to come back."

"I did treat her well, I was a good sister," said Tatsumaki.

"And that's what's kind of heartbreaking to me, you really do love your sister but always thought that you were on the right track with her when you really weren't. Maybe it was because your sister couldn't stand up to you, or maybe you were just too set in your ways to see otherwise."

"So you're suggesting…that I should change for the sake of my sister."

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm suggesting! And even if you view every relationship as a kind of give-and-take, surely you must think this give is worth it."

"I would…change for her," said Tatsumaki. "It'd just be…hard."

"Yeah, it will be," said Secter. "But hey, if it's any condolence, I think you'd like the outcome. And maybe I'll try to change along with you, so we can suffer together."

"Eh?"

"You know, taking solidarity in suffering or some shit," said Secter. "You'd feel more comfortable knowing that someone else out there is also trying to change and struggling with it."

"You."

"Yes, me."

"Change how?"

"I don't know, maybe open up more as you said."

"You won't do that."

"I can try."

"What do you get out of it?"

"I don't know, maybe there's all kinds of good stuff that comes from it."

Tatsumaki finished her meal, her gaze forlorn.

"Alright," she said. "I'll think about it."

"Good," said Secter. He pulled himself back up in his chair, almost falling over as he did so. "Are you staying again, or…"

Tatsumaki took in a deep breath. She grasped her plate, before getting up and tossing it in the sink.

"Well, you're still injured, aren't you?" asked Tatsumaki. "So until you're better, I guess I can stay another night."

"Alright," said Secter. "Ugh, man, I really need to clean my shit up. Don't worry about the smell or anything, I'll get rid of it eventually." He stretched and yawned, arms extending up high. "I've done it before after all."

Secter halted just as his arms were about to reach their height. He felt Tatsumaki's eyes boring into his soul.

 _Why am I such an idiot?_ he thought. _Why?_

His shoulders and arms drooping down, he picked himself back up and made his way back to his room.

"Good night, Secter," said Tatsumaki.

"Good night, Tatsu."

. . .

Secter woke up the next morning, feeling stiff and tired. He managed to push himself out of bed and walk to the bathroom, before nodding in approval at his faded wounds. Even his stomach looked fine by now, no longer distended and gory but instead there lay a pale scar where the gash had been. He peered into the living room, but no one was there.

 _It does look to be after noon,_ he thought. _She probably left already. Probably for the best._

As he made his way back to his room, the stains on his walls faded and vanished as he waved his hand at them. The same action also resolved the smell inside his bedroom, his power causing the musk to dissipate entirely. Secter lifted a hand and the bile which had been sitting inside his trash can levitated from inside and shrunk into a tiny ball, before disappearing from existence entirely. He frowned at his crusty sheets, still marred with smears of blood.

 _Really should've done a better job to clean those last ones,_ he thought. _Just didn't expect anybody to find them._

Secter sighed, and grabbed his sheets to be brought into his washing machine. Dropping them into the metal spiral below, he closed the door to the machine shut and turned it on. Back in his room, he sat down on his bed, and reached out for the tennis ball sitting on his bedside table. With it in his hands, Secter examined the ball, turning and spinning it in his hands in confusion. The ball was clean, not a speck of blood adorning its neon surface. The black words were still intact, and Secter gawked at the green sphere, perplexed as to how it was as clean as it was.

 _Huh,_ he thought. _Did she…do this?_

Secter blinked in incredulity at the object, then set it back down on the table. He rubbed at his eyes before getting back up and heading over to the shower.

 _Didn't really expect her to be this…kind,_ thought Secter. _Maybe she felt bad for me or something. Didn't expect that from her, but then again, there was more to her than I first thought._

After he had rid himself of stench and bloodstains, Secter got ready to head back outside, his body still aching from all the previous wounds. He found himself hesitating at the door, his mind unwilling to let him push the door aside for a moment. Bracing himself for cool winds, Secter marched his way outside, biting air tugging at the corners of his jacket.

It wasn't long before Secter was back in the city streets, eyes trained warily on the few people who gave him suspicious stares. Some whispered among one another and pointed at him as he went along, and Secter turned away from them, focusing his vision on the roads ahead. Most were content to ignore him as he went along, and Secter did the same. He entered a store, keeping his head low to avoid attracting any attention. Secter made his way through the aisles, picking up ingredients as he went along. By the time he had made it to the dairy aisle, he had a basket full of stuff. His stomach rumbled as he thought of the food he would have back at home. As he walked into the dairy section, he spotted a short, mildly irritated woman staring at the different kinds of milk.

"Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite esper," said Secter.

Tatsumaki jumped, before looking back over at him.

"Oh," she said. "You're up."

"Feeling better now," said Secter. "Is no problem."

"Mmm."

Secter scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to say next.

"So, uh, have any ideas on how to fix things with Fubuki?"

"I'm thinking about it," said Tatsumaki. Her expression was blank, traces of irritation in her voice.

"Ah," said Secter.

 _She seems distant today,_ thought Secter.

Tatsumaki made a quick turn to her left, then her right. Satisfied with the fact that they were the only two in the aisle, she looked up at Secter.

"What exactly am I to you?" she asked.

"Uh," said Secter. "I'm…not really sure. Why ask?"

"I'm just curious."

Secter's searched his mind for an answer, but all of them felt like traps.

"Acquaintance, I guess?" said Secter. "Maybe more?"

"Look," said Tatsumaki. She crossed her arms at him. "There's been a lot going on the past few days. And I don't want you going around thinking we're the best of friends or anything."

Secter rolled his eyes.

"Uh huh," he said.

"But…" she said. Her gaze shifted back to the milk. Sighing in defeat and irritation, she continued. "I do kind of appreciate you trying to help. I don't think…I don't think most other people would even give me the time of day."

 _As if you'd let them,_ thought Secter. _And gee, I wonder why._

Tatsumaki glared up at him, as if she could hear his thoughts. Secter froze in place, worrying for a second that it might be so.

"And don't go around thinking that that gives you some kind of power over me," said Tatsumaki. "Because it doesn't."

"Why would I want power over you?" asked Secter.

"Well…you don't, but it's just…hard for me to not think that way."

"I guess I still don't make sense to you, huh."

"You're starting to, but like I said, you're just different."

"Different in a good way?"

"Mixed."

"Ah. I was thinking in a good way."

"Of course you were."

Tatsumaki's shoulders sagged as she reached out to grab a jug of milk. With one in her grasp, she pulled it away from the opened cooler and swung it to her side.

"I need some time," she said. "To…process all of this crap."

"Feel free," said Secter.

Tatsumaki gave Secter a worried look.

"You're not gonna get cut up again, are you?" she asked.

"What? I told you that was a monster attack. So probably not, the thing's probably long gone by now."

Tatsumaki shook her head, her curled hair swinging as her scalp did. She smiled.

"You're a bad liar, Secter," she said. "I can tell when you're lying."

"What?" asked Secter. Fear ran rampant through his brain, and he took a step away from Tatsumaki.

"I can tell," said Tatsumaki. "Plus all the other stuff I saw. I know something's wrong, that you're hiding something from me."

"I'm not!"

"You're lying again."

"Stop this," said Secter, pointing at Tatsumaki's smirking face. "Stop this right now."

"Stop what?" asked Tatsumaki. "You're the one who's lying."

"Alright," said Secter, while taking another step away from Tatsumaki. He swiveled away from her. "I'm out."

"Wait," said Tatsumaki. "Let me…ugh."

"Let you what?"

"I don't really have any way to contact you, aside from going to your house," said Tatsumaki. "And if we're going to do this, _if_ I need your help, then I'll need to be able to call you or something."

"Alright, so give me your number then," said Secter, whipping out his phone. His face was calm while Tatsumaki's was a storm of anger and hesitation.

"It…don't use it to text me stupid things!" she said.

"What? I'm not going to text you stupid things."

"I can see it in your eyes you asshole, that you're gonna abuse this," said Tatsumaki.

Secter smiled at her, quietly chuckling to himself.

"I'm not gonna abuse anything," he said. "It's only for emergencies."

"Yes! Only emergencies. Don't call me for anything else."

She told him the number, which Secter typed into his phone. He proceeded to give her his, which Tatsumaki grumbled to as she poked each key on her phone to enter him into her list of contacts. Each number inputted was slower than the last, until Tatsumaki found herself forcing her finger to enter in the last digit to complete the number. Secter's name was added to the list, giving her a third official contact. As soon as the number was entered, a notification popped up at the top of her screen.

IS THIS TATSU, it read.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki. She glowered at Secter. "Yes, it's me! Who did you think it was?"

"Just checking," said Secter.

"Do you not trust me or something?"

"Not entirely."

"Ugh."

She typed back at the notification: YES, IDIOT, IT'S ME

OK, came the response.

"Alright," said Tatsumaki. "Now remember, only use this for emergencies-"

GET THE WHOLE MILK, came the notification.

Tatsumaki clenched her phone, her fingers going red from being entrenched in the rubber casing.

IT'S ON SALE, GET THE WHOLE MILK

"Stop," said Tatsumaki. "Or I'll block you."

IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU, GET IT NOW BEFORE YOU FORGET

"Stop texting me when I'm right in front of you!" yelled Tatsumaki at a snickering Secter.

"Well, are you going to get it?" asked Secter, looking up from his phone with a big smile on his face.

"No!" she yelled. "That's it, I'm going to block you."

"Oh come on, we just exchanged numbers," said Secter. "Look, I promise I won't do it again."

"Don't do it again," said Tatsumaki, although she could already see Secter hiding a laugh. "You're going to do it again, aren't you."

"No, no…"

"Why do you insist on pissing me off?" asked Tatsumaki.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. I think it's less about pissing you off, and more about the _type_ of things that piss you off. I don't know, I just think it's kind of hilarious how upset you get over stuff like this."

"It's not funny," said Tatsumaki. "Take this seriously, for once."

"I am!" said Secter. "Well, not the milk thing, the whole other thing."

Tatsumaki groaned, before slipping her phone back into her pocket.

 _This whole thing was a mistake,_ she thought. _I've let this idiot in too close, now he's going to ruin everything._

"Just use the number responsibly," she said. "Or I'll kill you."

"Back to your old ways, huh," said Secter. "Honestly, I prefer the new you."

Tatsumaki scowled.

"I'm leaving now," said Tatsumaki. "If I decide that I need your help, then _I_ will call you, not the other way around."

"Speaking of which, have you tried calling Fubuki?" asked Secter.

"I…have. She's been ignoring my calls."

"Huh."

"I don't think she wants to see me."

"Oh. Well, I can't say I blame her."

A glare, so full of venom it could've been categorized as a chemical weapon, was fired at Secter. He raised his hands in response.

"Look, you know what I mean," said Secter. "You know what you did, and what the problem is by now. That doesn't mean she won't ever want to see you again."

Tatsumaki's anger died down as her head hung low.

"I know," she said. "I just don't like her ignoring me."

"To be honest, I don't like it either. Mostly because how it bothers you."

Tatsumaki sighed, and started to walk past Secter.

"I'm heading out," she said. "I'll see you later."

"See you," said Secter. "Keep me posted, ok?"

She grumbled at him as she left Secter's sight. On her way out of the store, Tatsumaki's phone buzzed again, and she pulled it out, confused.

DID YOU GET THE MILK, it read.

It took all of Tatsumaki's energy to prevent her from throwing her phone across the street.

. . .

"So, I heard you had a scuffle with Atomic Samurai," said Bang, as he climbed the stairs to the dojo with Secter at his side.

"Yeah, I tend to piss people like him off," said Secter. "To the point where they call me out on tv, apparently."

"Yes, that was uncalled for," said Bang. "These people…can get very defensive of their positions at times."

"Yeah, and now I have people recognizing and glaring at me as I walk. Good times, let me tell you, Bang. Good times."

"Hmm. This doesn't bode well."

"I'll have to figure out how to fix it somehow," grumbled Secter.

"I'll speak to Atomic Samurai," said Bang. "He will listen to me. And what exactly did you do to him, anyways?"

"Broke his sword," said Secter. "That was pretty much it."

"While he was trying to cut you?"

"Basically."

"You possess immense speed, Secter," said Bang. "You've shown it time and time again. Forgive me for being curious as to your true strength, but of course, since you didn't take the hero test…"

"Yes, you're not the only one," said Secter. "But I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Not really important."

"It might be, in the right situation," said Bang. "And where exactly did you learn your techniques, was it from that area you mentioned a while back?"

"Uhh. Kind of, yes."

"Who taught you?"

"Bit of self-teaching, and some from an old trainer, not unlike yourself."

Bang chuckled.

"Well, perhaps one day I could meet this trainer, unless he is…"

"No clue where he is now. Kind of…don't want to know."

"You're a bit of a mystery, Secter. I wish you'd tell me more about yourself."

"Again, you're not the only one. But I'm not all that worth talking about. Let's just focus on the day ahead. What do you have planned for training, exactly?"

"Oh, Charanko is visiting family, but I managed to convince Saitama and his friends for an evening meal at the dojo."

"That's nice."

"Yes, I like to remain charitable."

The two of them entered the dojo, where Saitama, along with another man who mind-searching revealed to be King, were playing against one another in a video game featured prominently on a television. Genos sat next to them, watching as Saitama squirmed and shouted.

"Hello everybody," said Bang, with a warm smile. "I bring a student of mine, Secter his name is. Secter, that's King, and the bald one is Saitama."

"Oh right, the drunk guy," said Saitama, not lifting his gaze from the screen.

King gave a small nod, also refusing to look away.

"We met before," said Genos.

"Yes, we did," said Secter. He plopped himself down across from Saitama, and raised an eyebrow at his plight. "King winning?"

"He always wins at this stupid game," said Saitama. "But not today, today I have him beat."

"You're in third," said King. "No items, final lap."

"Hey! No screenpeaking! I told you that was cheating!"

"I'm not, I can see you on the minimap."

"Oh, right," said Saitama. "Forget I said it, then."

"Master, why not use the explosive item to destroy King?" asked Genos.

"Because I haven't hit an item box, Genos!" yelled Saitama. "You have to hit an item box in order to get – bullshit! This game is bullshit!"

"You lost again," said King. "Best three out of five?"

Saitama sighed, disgusted at the results.

"Fine," said Saitama.

"I'll get the food ready," said Bang, beaming.

Secter had his eyes trained on King. For the most part, he was wondering why this seemingly ordinary man was a part of S-class.

Someone emerged from the back of the dojo, fixing her hair as she sashayed towards the group. Secter's head rose and his eyes widened in shock as the woman approached.

"I'm back, is Saitama winning ye-" Fubuki stopped when she saw Secter sitting there. Arms crossing, she sat next to King, watching as Secter tugged at his collar.

"And that's Fubuki," said Bang from the kitchen near the back.

"We've met," said Fubuki.

"Long time no see," said Secter. "What have you been up to these days?"

"You two know each other?" asked King, his eyes still glued to the screen.

"We do," said Fubuki. "It was complicated."

"Yeaaaah," said Secter.

"Huh," said King.

"Do you mind stepping outside for a second?" asked Fubuki. "I need to talk to you."

"I…don't see why not," said Secter.

Fubuki rose from her seat, and motioned for Secter to follow. Secter shambled outside with her.

"Have fun you two!" said Bang.

As the doors closed behind them, Fubuki led Secter to a small patio, surrounded by cherry blossom trees and harmonious wind chimes. Secter nodded in approval at the beautiful sights.

"What exactly does Bang think we're going to do out here, train?" asked Secter.

Fubuki raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"My group told me about you, how it was you fighting my sister the day they got me out and not Saitama," she said.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"That you were the one who planned the rescue."

"I mean, technically the group got there before me, and was probably planning before I got there, but still."

"Why?"

"I mean, I was having an off day, and they seem to care about you, so…"

"You know what I mean," said Fubuki. "Why did you fight my sister to let me get away?"

"Because you seemed like you were suffering under her," said Secter. "And seeing that fight in the backyard proved it. She was forcibly training you, was that it? Why didn't you just leave?"

"She…does something to my head when she wants to control me," said Fubuki. "I had never seen it before, but it makes me tired and lethargic. Then she brings me wherever she wants."

 _Oh my God, it's the brain twisting, isn't it,_ thought Secter. _Tatsumaki, what the fuck._

"Ah," said Secter. "Think she tried that on me once."

"Did it work?"

"Nope."

"Maybe that explains why you're still here," said Fubuki. "How…how bad did she hurt you in the fight?"

"She dropped me to the planet's core."

"You're serious."

"Yep. Didn't feel a thing, though."

"What?"

"Told you, I've got a high tolerance for pain. Sending me to space did nothing either. Nor did hurling chunks of earth and buildings at me."

"So," said Fubuki. "You fought her, and she could do nothing to you."

"Pretty much," said Secter.

"Just like her fight with Saitama…"

"She probably felt threatened by someone like me in addition to someone like Saitama. She wasn't happy to find out that even at full strength, she couldn't do much. Although she was even more distraught about what you said to her."

Fubuki jolted. She placed a hand over her thumping heart.

"You…you heard that?" she asked.

"All of it," said Secter. "I had managed to get out from the core in time."

"You…weren't supposed to."

"I know, I know, but I was involved by that point, and seeing what it did to Tatsumaki made me realize something about her. Something about you, too."

"What's that?"

"That you care about each other. Honestly-" Secter leaned up against a wall of the dojo and relaxed himself before continuing. "For a while, I didn't understand your sister. Kinda hated her, to put things lightly. But things changed for me that day. I saw that even though you hated Tatsumaki, you didn't really want to leave her alone. And Tatsumaki always thought she was a good sister to you, never really realizing how she was hurting you and pushing you away. Until you dropped the hammer, that is. And I don't blame you for doing so, just know that it did hurt Tatsumaki more than you might think."

"It…it did?"

"Yeah, she feels pretty bad about the whole thing," said Secter. "Although it would be hard for her to vocalize it. You know how she is, not terribly open about feelings and stuff."

"How do you know all this about her?" asked Fubuki.

"We've gotten to know each other better over the past few days," said Secter. "On the bright side, she's not trying to kill me constantly, and I for the most part, don't make her want to kill me constantly."

"I see…"

Secter's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he held up a finger to Fubuki.

"Hang on, that might be her now," said Secter.

"You have her number?" asked Fubuki, her face entrenched with incredulity. "Only I have her number! That and the Hero Association!"

Bringing his phone up to his face, Secter frowned.

"No, it's just my landlord," said Secter. "Apparently he doesn't like the fact that I have a bus for a doorway now. That's a real shame, I liked my bus-door."

"Wait wait wait," said Fubuki. "Back up. You have her number?"

"She was pretty reluctant to give it, but yeah," said Secter. "What, is that an achievement or something?"

"For her, yes."

"Actually yeah, I could see how that makes sense."

Fubuki eyed Secter up and down, as if assessing him for some unknown exam. Secter raised an eyebrow in response.

"She…trusted you enough…to give you her number," said Fubuki.

"She did," said Secter. "Where are you going with this?"

"It's just weird, is all," said Fubuki. "She never opens up to anyone, not even me. And to trust someone enough to give them regular contact with her… that's unheard of."

"She pushes people away all the time," said Secter. "Makes me worry about her sometimes."

"That's…sweet of you," said Fubuki. She let out a soft chuckle. "I wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

"What she makes of all this. How she sees you. Maybe she's even crushing on you a little bit."

Secter coughed, and bolted up from the side of the dojo.

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Somehow I kinda doubt it."

"You'd be surprised," said Fubuki, smirking. "She's not immune to stuff like that, and she can't hide everything from me. She's had people she's admired just a little too much in the past…"

"I don't think it's like that," said Secter.

"Well, what do _you_ think of her as?" asked Fubuki.

"Not entirely sure," said Secter. "Someone different, that's for certain."

"Different how?"

"Hard to explain."

"Sure it is."

"No! Not like that! I meant, someone you kind of see as a friend but who probably wouldn't see you that way in return, I guess."

"By my sister's standards, giving someone her phone number is basically a declaration of friendship."

"Right…"

"Can I see your phone for a second? I just want to see if it's the right number."

"It is, she texted me back a while ago."

Fubuki extended a hand, and scrunched her fingers back towards her a few times as if she were rolling something underneath them. Secter crossed his arms in indignance.

"Oh come on, I just want to see if you're telling the truth," said Fubuki.

"Why would I lie about this?" asked Secter.

"I don't know, maybe you were trying to impress me or something."

Secter rolled his eyes and flashed her his contact list. Fubuki examined the phone only a few inches away, before pulling back.

"That's her," she said. "Wow."

"Really that amazing," said Secter. "Really."

"It is," said Fubuki. "Tatsumaki's never had anyone besides me."

"Well, maybe that's why she's hurting so bad over what she did."

Fubuki frowned. Her expression turned dark.

"It's been this way for a long time, Secter," she said. "Long before you ever came along."

"She was forcibly training you for how long?"

"That was more recent," said Fubuki. "But for my whole life, she's always been telling me that power is the source of all self-worth, and that I never needed anybody but myself. Always worried about people using me or some crap, and because of all this, I was always crippling myself with comparisons to her. I knew I could never be like her, and she knew it too. But this wasn't good enough for her."

Secter's heart hurt for the woman before him.

"She drove everyone away," said Fubuki. "I never had any friends, because they were all terrified of my sister. Everyone I wanted to reach out to, to ask them for help, they wouldn't listen. I could never break free of the control of my sister, because of how strong she was. And her strength scared people."

"She kept you locked up, so to speak," said Secter.

"Yes, according to her way of life," said Fubuki. "It…poisoned me. I can't go a single fucking day without thinking how terrible I am compared to my sister, and I had hoped that forming my own group would let me rise in the rankings. But according to her, my own group, my only people that I started to bond with, are holding me back. They're a hinderance, according to my _loving sister_."

"She thinks she knows what's best," said Secter. "What really hurts is that she thinks it's the best for you. That she's doing good."

"She wants what's best for me, but thinks that I can't find what's best for myself. I'm so tired of her telling me that I'm not strong enough or can't let people in close all the time. I want to _live_ , Secter. I want to _breathe._ And when she started to force me into training, I felt like I was choking. I felt like I wanted to die."

Secter's face went pale, and his stomach churned at her words. He laid a hand on his midsection, hoping it would stifle the gurgles that rose from within.

"I was terrified at the thought of having to face her again and disappointing her, because that meant she would hold onto me for longer," said Fubuki. "I was terrified at being forced to fight Sweet Mask, because I knew I couldn't win. And that would only make my sister angry. I want to get strong on my own, without her bearing down on me. Yelling at me. Crushing me."

"I think she's starting to realize the effect she was having on you," said Secter.

"Is she? Did I really get through to her? Does she finally fucking understand that I can't bear to see her right now, because all I associate with her is resentment and pain?"

"I can talk to her on your behalf," said Secter. "Help get some of those messages through, she'll listen to me."

"No, I don't want you to take more abuse from her."

"Trust me," said Secter, jerking a thumb at his chest. "I can handle it."

"It's not fair to you."

"Seeing the two of you happy, or even make up, would be worth it in the end."

Fubuki blinked back tears, letting out a saddened laugh at what Secter said.

"You're a kind man, Secter," said Fubuki. "Why even go through the trouble of all this? Did you really just get involved because you didn't like seeing us unhappy?"

"Pretty much," said Secter. "That and because I could tell you two were good people. Who, at the end of the day, really cared for one another but had trouble expressing it. I can relate to stuff like that, having trouble getting things across that is…"

"Well," said Fubuki. "I appreciate you trying to help. And who knows, if Tatsumaki trusts you enough to give you her number, maybe she will end up listening to you a bit."

Secter's phone buzzed again, and he lifted it to see a notification listed across the screen.

MY HOUSE. NOW.

It was from Tatsumaki.

"Is that her?" asked Fubuki.

"Yep," said Secter. "Pushy bastard, isn't she."

"Let me see!" yelled Fubuki. She reached out to grab Secter's phone, and managed to pull it towards her for a moment before Secter slammed it into his chest.

"Hey!" said Secter. "You can't just go grabbing people's stuff like that!"

"She's inviting you to her house?" asked Fubuki. "Oh my God, she's never done that. Not in all the years I've known her." She cracked a smile at Secter, who shook his head at her.

"Maybe she really does like you," said Fubuki. "Can't help but feel a little nice for her."

"I really don't think it's what you think it is," said Secter.

"She's inviting you to _her house_ , Secter. I have never, ever, seen her do that with someone else."

"More like a demand, really."

"Doesn't matter. Even still, would she be that bold if she didn't have a crush on you?"

"Stop."

"I don't know if she would," said Fubuki, hand on her chin. "The only other people she ever liked she tended to avoid like the plague. But this is more personal…what would she say if you said no to her request?"

"Probably get really pissed at me," said Secter. "Maybe kind of hurt, I don't know."

"I think she likes you," said Fubuki. "Maybe she's gotten to the point where she's not totally afraid, but would never admit it."

"Stop," said Secter. "You're reading too far into this."

"I might be," said Fubuki. "But somehow I doubt it."

"You are," said Secter. "Now I'm going to go, and see what your sister is on about. Is there…anything you'd like for me to say to her?"

Fubuki's face froze, and her shoulders tensed.

"I…I guess just tell her…" she said. She collapsed back against the side of the blossom tree, her mouth furrowed in consternation. "I don't know. Maybe…just tell her that I can't live the way she's always telling me to. That we have to do something different. I don't want to leave her alone, I'd be worried how she'd end up if she had nobody."

"Me too," said Secter.

"You sure do care about her a lot," said Fubuki. "Just…also tell her at the same time, I have to take some time before I see her again. Before I can start to disassociate her with a fucking prison."

"Gotcha," said Secter. "Well, she won't be entirely pleased to hear that, but she'll like knowing that you don't want to leave."

"Yes," said Fubuki. "That's good. And what you're doing, being there for her after she pushed me away, I can appreciate that."

"Oh, it's nothing really," said Secter. "Nothing to worry about."

"It is something," said Fubuki. "Even if my sister can't hurt you with her powers, I guarantee she verbally abuses you."

"Good thing I have thick skin," said Secter. "Although from time to time, she says something that really pisses me off."

"Well, don't hurt her."

"I'm not going to hurt her!" said Secter, absolute horror passing over his face.

"I didn't think you would," said Fubuki. "But I meant in regards to what you say. She can be more sensitive than you think, especially regarding certain things."

"Such as?"

"Well, being called childish or being compared to a child, she doesn't like that. Or being called a brat, or immature. Also doesn't like it when people bring up stuff about her body, I don't think. She doesn't always say it but I can tell she gets mad when people compare her to a midget or something."

"Ah," said Secter. "To be fair, she does act like a child sometimes."

"She does," said Fubuki. "I think she just wants to be respected."

"I respect her," said Secter. "Begrudgingly sometimes."

"I'll bet you do," said Fubuki. "Well, you better go off and see her, she's going to get angry soon."

"She's always angry."

Fubuki chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah she is," said Fubuki. She looked up from her spot by the tree, her eyes soft. "And thank you Secter, for doing this."

Secter waved her away.

"Meh," he said. "Also, tell Bang that I'm sorry that I had to go and miss the meal. I'll be back here soon enough."

"I will," said Fubuki.

With that, Secter left the dojo. Fubuki leaned on the tree as he exited her sight, a smile on her face as tiny pink blossoms drifted all around her.

. . .

Secter knocked on the door to Tatsumaki's house, not sure what to expect. As Tatsumaki opened the door, he raised an eyebrow at her. The esper's hair was rolled up into a bun, and instead of her normal dress, she wore a black tanktop and jeans.

"You're late," she said.

"Not really late when you don't give a specific time," said Secter.

"I said now."

"I was busy."

Tatsumaki rolled her eyes at him, and jerked a thumb behind her to invite him inside. Secter walked past her, and crashed down into the couch while Tatsumaki closed the door.

"You look good," said Secter. "Nice to see you in something other than the dress for once."

Tatsumaki gave him a suspicious side-glance.

"Thanks," she said. "But I prefer the dress."

"Eh, whatever floats your boat."

She approached Secter. Pointing at a chair across from the couch, Tatsumaki stood in place, waiting for Secter to move. He only shook his head at her.

"Nope," he said. "Not moving."

"Sit in the chair," she said. "We're not sitting together."

"What's the problem with that?" asked Secter. "And I'm not moving, you can sit in the chair."

"I swear to God, Secter, if you don't move, I'll burn you alive with the fryer oil in the kitchen."

"Fryer oil? Ooh, are you making stir fry again? The stuff you left over at my house was really damn good."

Tatsumaki sighed, and made her way over to the chair. She collapsed down into it, her face worn and tired.

"So…" said Secter. "Why exactly did you bring me here today?"

"I want you to take care of something," said Tatsumaki.

"Take care of what?"

Tatsumaki squeezed her eyes shut tight, wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyelids as she dragged them together. She raised a hand to her temples and massaged them, as if she were the victim of a splitting headache.

"I…have a plan to talk to Fubuki," said Tatsumaki. "I just need you to make sure that her group doesn't overhear anything. I think she'll make them go away, but I don't want any eavesdropping of any kind."

"You think she'll meet with you?" asked Secter.

"Of course she will!" said Tatsumaki. "Surely by this point she will! It's been too long, surely she will."

"Well, I met with her earlier today," said Secter. "Talked about you, actually."

Tatsumaki's hand lowered to reveal two darts of skepticism.

"You met with her."

"I didn't plan to, I was going to Bang's dojo, and there she was."

"I see. What did she say?"

Secter paused, and he scratched his chin while trying to navigate the verbal minefield he felt he was in.

"Well," he said. "I think a lot of the stuff she said you should hear for yourself. But one thing that stood out to me is that she views you like a prison, Tatsu. She thinks that you are suffocating her, so to speak. And while she doesn't want to leave you alone, she's kind of afraid of you too."

Tatsumaki's frame grew tinier as she shrunk into her chair. Her arms wrapped around her sides, as if she were trying to crush herself. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"I knew she was afraid," said Tatsumaki. "I thought it would be to her benefit."

"It's poisoned her."

"Did I…did I go too far?"

"Yeah, I think you did."

"What do I do?"

"Apologizing would be a good start, I think."

Tatsumaki's body flared up with indignation, her eyes a burning maelstrom of frustration. But the inferno did not last long, and soon Tatsumaki slumped back into her seat, grim.

"Maybe," she said. "Maybe I've been looking at this the wrong way."

"Fubuki not being around has really gotten to you, hasn't it?" asked Secter.

"This has never happened before."

"All the more reason to fix this," said Secter. "And I can help, you know. Not just by pushing the group away or something. You know, as a kind of intermediary or something. You tell me what you want to tell Fubuki, and I can give it to her."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "No. I trust you more than most others, but not for that. This…needs to be between Fubuki and I."

"That's good that you want to connect with your sister on a more personal level, I'm just kind of worried you might…you know, do the wrong thing. Especially since you twisted her brain, Tatsu."

Tatsumaki's face fell. Her teeth clenched together until her gums grew sore.

"I…know what I did was wrong," said Tatsumaki. "And I'm still afraid of doing the wrong thing. But the brain twisting…it was never a full twist, ok? Only a little, just enough to make her tired. And when I saw it was too easy to hurt her this way, especially since I hadn't perfected the technique, I just did a little body manipulation instead. I…I know it was wrong by now. But I think Fubuki might listen to me, if I really try to make things right."

"Well," said Secter. "If you really think Fubuki will meet you, why not call her?"

"You think she'll answer?"

"Maybe. If not, there's always plan B. And you don't have to tell me anything that personal, I agree that anything like that would be best for her to hear coming from you anyways."

"I'll call her," said Tatsumaki.

She pulled out her phone, her fingers trembling and lips quavering. Carefully dialing number by number, she inputted her sister's contact into the phone, and waited for an answer.

 _She won't,_ thought Tatsumaki.

The phone rang. And rang. And rang.

 _I knew it-_

Tatsumaki's eyes widened, and Secter leaned in closer from his seat.

"Hello?" asked Tatsumaki. "Sis?"

A hand flew to Tatsumaki's mouth, but she quickly pulled herself together. Getting out of her chair, she clutched the phone tighter to her ear.

"Yes, yes it's me," said Tatsumaki. "I…missed you."

Secter smiled at her.

 _Aww,_ he thought.

"I did," said Tatsumaki. "Yeah…no, he's here. Yes, he's annoying. He's annoying me right now with his stupid smile."

Secter smiled wider.

Tatsumaki turned away from him, and headed towards her sliding glass door that served as the entry to the backyard.

"I know, I know," said Tatsumaki, her voice getting further from Secter.

A hiss sounded off from the kitchen, and Secter turned to see a column of smoke rising from a pan on the stove. Scrambling to his feet, he bolted into the kitchen and turned the vent fan on, before mixing away at the simmering ingredient below with a wooden spoon.

He could hear Tatsumaki chatting away in the other room, and the thought of them talking together made his heart feel as warm as the air around him. Scooping out a portion of the meal onto a dish, he brought another plate over to him and watched as its clean white face was hidden behind a heap of steaming rice, vegetables, and meat. The plates quivered as Secter strode back into the living room, and he laid them down on the table in front of him. Picking up one of the plates, he munched away at the food. Tatsumaki stood on the other side of the room, and as Secter made the final push to clear his plate, she hung up and walked back over to him.

Her head was lowered, but there was a small smile on her face as she sat down.

"She wants to meet," said Tatsumaki. "I haven't lost her."

"I didn't think you would," said Secter. "Although I'll admit, I was worried for a bit."

"Me too." She lifted the other plate off of the table and picked at the cool mix of ingredients that adorned her dish. Chunks of meat and vegetables slid off her fork as she raised them into the air.

"You ok?" asked Secter, confused at the sight of her.

"Just…worried," said Tatsumaki. "I…ugh, as much as I hate to admit it, I may need your help."

Secter raised an eyebrow, to which Tatsumaki snarled.

"Don't go saying anything stupid!" she said. "No gloating or anything like that."

"Wasn't gonna."

"Sure you weren't," said Tatsumaki. "Look, I'm going to meet with sis, and it looks like she trusts you and all, so…you can stick around I guess. You seem kinda knowledgeable about this sort of thing, so maybe you can help me out. You know, help me understand and put me on the right track."

"I think Fubuki will help you understand better than me," said Secter. "But as for the right track part, I can try."

"There is no trying. Only succeeding. I don't want this to go bad, Secter. I really don't. I want to understand. I want Fubuki to be happy, and apparently what I'm doing isn't helping that."

"Sounds like you _are_ starting to understand."

"I hope so."

"It takes a long time for stuff like this."

"I know. I just hope it isn't too late."

"Well, what's the plan then? We just gonna meet with her?"

"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "And don't…don't go telling people about all this. I swear to God, Secter, if you do, remember what I saw about you that one time…"

"I won't, Christ!" said Secter. "You're still on about this? You still think that I'm just going to go blabbing all this to everyone else?"

"No," said Tatsumaki. Her voice grew quivery, rising and dipping beneath a wave of sadness and fear. "I don't. It's just…very hard for me right now, you understand?"

"Yeah…I think so."

"I'm sorry for still being so angry about these things, I'm just not used to-"

She froze mid-sentence, a look of shock enveloping her features.

"What?" asked Secter.

"I just apologized," she said. "To you, of all people."

"See? It's not so hard. If you can apologize to someone you hate, then surely you can apologize to Fubuki."

"I don't hate you."

"Hmm? Oh, right. You know what I mean."

"I mean, I hated you before. Before all this. But like I said, I see you different now."

"Ah. How so, exactly?"

"I don't know, just different. You're…" Tatsumaki struggled for words, and she glanced around the room as if some invisible dictionary were to appear and highlight the right phrase.

Secter sat and watched her struggle. He leaned back into the couch, his stomach churning at the possibilities of what she might say.

"Let's just go," said Tatsumaki. "Fubuki will be waiting for us."

"Aren't you going to finish your food?" asked Secter.

"Not hungry," said Tatsumaki. "Are you ready?"

"Sure!" said Secter, bolting from his seat. "Are you?"

"I think so."

"You can do this, Tatsu. You love your sister."

"I do. I just hope I can do what's right."

. . .

They met Fubuki at a patio, its surroundings not dissimilar to those back at the dojo. Gnarled but beautiful cherry blossom trees, a nearby stream made from chiseled stone leading to a jet black pond that shimmered in the fading sunlight. Secter drank in the beauty of the place with his eyes, and approached a small table where Fubuki was sitting at alone with Tatsumaki.

Fubuki crossed her arms at the sight of Secter while Tatsumaki sat across from her sister. Secter stood off to the side, no other chairs in sight.

"I see you brought a friend," said Fubuki. "Kind of surprising."

"He's just helping me with some things," said Tatsumaki. "Friend is too strong a word."

Secter's eyes narrowed. Inside, his heart felt as if it had been dipped in ice, but his mind felt more at ease.

"Oh," said Fubuki. "Helping you with…talking to me?"

Tatsumaki could find no position in her seat that made her comfortable, and Fubuki's words didn't help her situation.

"Yes, alright?" said Tatsumaki. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"I just think that's nice of both of you, is all," said Fubuki. "Even still, I thought this was going to be more between us."

"It…could be," said Tatsumaki. She glanced over at Secter, who raised his palms as he started to back off. "But, he's helped me to understand this whole thing."

"It's difficult for you, huh," said Fubuki.

"Yes!" said Tatsumaki. "It is! It's just hard…ok? Fubuki, I know what I did hurt you, but I didn't realize it would make you hate me. That wasn't what I wanted. I wanted you to be strong, so no one would take advantage of you, and-"

Fubuki lifted her hand, and silence fell over the patio. Tatsumaki was ready to burst with words.

"I can decide that stuff for myself," said Fubuki. "I've learned that. How I'm going to get strong, what that means for me, all of that. I don't want to leave you alone, sis. I know it would hurt you. But I can't spend time with you if all you're going to do is hurt me."

"I don't want to hurt you, sis," said Tatsumaki. "I…do want you to be happy. And I…do want to get better. As a sister. As a person. But it's…hard. Hard for me to even talk about this."

"So you acknowledge your faults," said Fubuki, crossing her arms, one leg shifting to cover the other.

"I'm not perfect," said Tatsumaki. "I make mistakes. I…know that the way I treated you was not the best way. I just thought there was no other option, my way had to be the best. And by this point, I figured there was no sense to go back. That it was probably too late anyways."

 _I get the feeling I shouldn't be here,_ thought Secter. _She's doing real well though, I'm happy for her._

"It's not too late," said Fubuki. "I still love you. But I can't live the way you want me to."

"I…love you too," said Tatsumaki.

 _Shit, I can't handle all this,_ thought Secter. _Gonna make me tear up or something. Ah, I gotta get through this._

Fubuki pulled out a handkerchief and wiped at her eyes.

"Allergies or something," she said.

"Right," said Tatsumaki.

Fubuki cleared her throat, before sliding the dampened tissue back into her purse.

"We can fix this together," said Fubuki. "Just, no more forced trainings. No more putting me and my friends down. No more threatening people, for God's sakes."

"I won't," said Tatsumaki. "I promise."

Fubuki smiled at her, which felt like a spear right through Tatsumaki's heart.

"I knew I didn't want to leave you alone," said Fubuki. "I always thought you could change. And I especially didn't want you to feel by yourself for your birthday."

"Birthday?" asked Secter.

"It's tomorrow," said Fubuki.

"You don't need to tell him that," said Tatsumaki. She groaned when Secter gave her the same old idiotic smile again.

"Well well well," said Secter. "What do you know. And so close to mine, too! I'll have to think of something for a gift for you. You're not having a party right? You don't seem like the party type, Tatsu."

"No, I'm not having a party," said Tatsumaki. "I just want to make things right here."

"Oh, right," said Secter. "Uh, carry on then."

"Um, Secter," said Fubuki.

"You need me to leave?" he asked. "Because I can go, that's no problem."

"I think that might be best," said Fubuki.

"Right, right," said Secter. "You're doing great Tatsu."

Tatsumaki muttered something under her breath.

"Huh?" asked Secter.

"She said thank you," said Fubuki.

"Oh," said Secter. "Well, no problem."

"I promise I'll get better, sis," said Tatsumaki. "I just might need your help showing me how."

Fubuki squirmed, her mind racing with a thousand ideas.

"I…can help," said Fubuki. "I can help you, sis. If you really want to change, then I will help you."

"Are you still going to try and get stronger?" asked Tatsumaki.

Fubuki froze. Secter's shoulders tensed.

"Not that I'm going to force that on you," said Tatsumaki, her eyes full of horror. "But, I don't want you to view getting stronger as a bad thing that's tied with me."

"Oh, no, I will still try," said Fubuki. "However I can."

"Why not train with Bang?" asked Secter. "Hell, your whole group could train with him. He's been itching for new recruits anyways, and it's kind of his job now."

"That's…not a bad idea," said Fubuki. "For fighting skills, at least."

"Could come in handy," said Tatsumaki.

"Exactly!" said Secter. "Help the old man out, he deserves it anyways." Secter frowned, before turning away.

"Well, you two have fun," he said. "I'll get out of your hair."

"See you, Secter," said Fubuki.

"Don't buy me any gifts," said Tatsumaki. "I don't want anything."

"Ah, I'll see what I can do."

As Secter left the patio, a final glance over at the two espers let him see Tatsumaki saying something to her sister.

"He never listens," was what he could read from her lips.

. . .

The next day, Secter came to Tatsumaki's house, little box in hand. It was adorned with a green bow and red wrapping paper, and tied to the shiny knot at the top was a tag, complete with the words:

FOR TATSU

The door flung itself open, and Secter jumped, not ready for Tatsumaki's sudden appearance. He flung the gift behind his back, and put on a signature smirk. Tatsumaki's eyelids drooped over her irises in irritation. She was wearing casual clothes again, this time a t-shirt as opposed to a tanktop.

"You don't have to hide it, I already know," she said.

"Soooo," said Secter. "How did it go with Fubuki yesterday?"

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "She'll be coming soon."

"Oh!" said Secter. "She celebrating your birthday with you?"

Tatsumaki rubbed her arm, spots of it turning red where she had massaged it.

"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "We're having cake and everything."

"That's great Tatsu, I'm really happy for you."

Tatsumaki looked at him with something Secter hadn't seen from her before. It was something he couldn't quite place, stronger than sympathy. After a few moments he realized. Warmth.

"Well, uh," said Secter, his face burning. "I brought a gift for you, but I guess you saw it already." He revealed the gift from behind his back, and offered it to Tatsumaki, who wrapped her fingers around the box before taking it from him.

"I'll open it later," she said.

"Suit yourself," said Secter. "So, I guess I'll be off then. Just wanted to drop by to make sure everything was ok, and to give you that, of course."

"You can stay," said Tatsumaki.

"Huh?"

"You can stay, if you want. Fubuki was thinking of bringing some of her friends over at some point, maybe you want to stay too?"

"Oh, uh, I don't know. Maybe for a bit."

"At least stay for the cake. It'll be just the three of us."

Secter's nerves were riled. He wanted to stay, but part of him couldn't help but worry.

 _We're…getting closer, aren't we?_ thought Secter. _And…she seems happier now. But this isn't right, I'm not worth her time here._

He stepped into her house, and Tatsumaki led him over to the couch, where a cake, white and gold and three tiers tall, sat proudly on the table.

"Wow," said Secter. "Someone really pulled out the stops for your cake there, huh?"

"Fubuki ordered it," said Tatsumaki. "Apparently even before we met yesterday. She's…a really good sister. Sometimes I think I don't deserve her."

"Hey, come on," said Secter. "We all make mistakes here. You tried your best, and you did it because you loved Fubuki. Now you're trying to fix things, which is the strongest I've ever seen you."

"Not when I was trying to kill you all those times."

"Nope."

"Not when I launched you into space, or dropped you into the Earth's core."

"Nope."

"Not when I obliterated all those monsters."

"Absolutely not. Tatsu, I know you could toss people around and destroy monsters all day, but facing your innermost problems and fears, that's what takes real strength and courage."

"Hmm," said Tatsumaki. "Interesting. By the way, I'm sorry for trying to kill you all those times."

"Ah, it's fine," said Secter. "That feels like ages ago anyways."

"We should talk about it sometime," said Tatsumaki.

"Uh, ok?"

Secter didn't stick around for long, only pausing several times to admire the cake and talking with Tatsumaki before telling her, to the esper's chagrin, that he had to go. She let out a quiet sigh as he left, and when Secter looked back in confusion, she averted his gaze. Secter smiled at her, then turned to leave. As he made his way through the streets, he caught glimpse of Fubuki leading her group towards Tatsumaki's home, various suited members laughing and chatting amongst each other. Fubuki looked nervous, but strode with a determined shine in her eye. In her grasp was a yellow gift, its bow swaying in the wind.

 _This is a new dawn for them both,_ thought Secter. _Just hope Tatsu doesn't get too nervous with all those people around. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised Fubuki's even bringing more people. Wonder what Tatsu said to her._

The group vanished around a building, and a sad smile spread across Secter's face as he walked on.

 _Well, I guess she doesn't need me anymore,_ thought Secter. _Tatsu's happy now._

He arrived home and investigated his liquor cabinet, growling at the remaining number of bottles left. Secter counted twenty bottles of black liquid, before closing the door behind him.

"Best to save some for a special occasion," he mumbled.

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki enjoyed most of her party, despite being sullen around the few members of the Blizzard Group who had shown up. Later that night, after a relatively quiet evening, Tatsumaki lay down on her bed and flipped Secter's gift between her fingers. Tearing it open, she examined the inside of the box, only for a green object to roll out from it onto her stomach. Tatsumaki's mouth opened just enough for a small amount of air to be let out, and she picked up the tennis ball, turning it over in her hand. The ball halted as Tatsumaki spotted something written on the side of it.

FOR MY FAVORITE ESPER

Tatsumaki slid into her blankets, her vision going dark as she immersed herself in a cavern of sheets. She kept the ball close, her eyes refusing to be taken off of it. Clutching it to her chest, she lay like that for an hour, before setting the ball over on her bedside table and falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The next few days Tatsumaki spent time with her sister, the two of them distant at first but grew closer as time went by. One day they were at the bowling alley, with Tatsumaki becoming increasingly frustrated at her inability to hit but a couple of pins before threatening to use her psychic energy to blast the ball across the lane. Only the panicked words of her sister and her terrified expression brought Tatsumaki to a calm.

The following day they went out to the lake, with Tatsumaki doing her best to ignore the divebombing Saitama and Genos nearby. Fubuki relaxed herself on the beach, soaking in the sun.

On the third day, Fubuki took Tatsumaki out on the town, and Tatsumaki stared at Fubuki's touch when she tried to grab her arm to bring Tatsumaki closer to a store window.

"Look, sis!" said Fubuki. "I'd been waiting for this place to open!"

"We can go if you want," said Tatsumaki. "I don't care."

"Oh come on, don't be like that," said Fubuki. "I know you wanted to go, you've been eying catalogues from this place since day one."

Tatsumaki failed to hide a smile, the corners of her mouth twitching as it spread across her face.

"Fine," she said. "We can look real quick."

The two of them went inside together. They shopped for hours, Fubuki overwhelmed by the massive selection the place had to offer. By the time they came out, Tatsumaki was carrying one shopping bag while Fubuki had three. They walked to a nearby restaurant, neon lights above glaring in the night while shadows of patrons inside ate against the dim backdrop of a red wall. Tatsumaki followed Fubuki inside, who laughed and told her that the food here was to die for.

Finding a table took seconds, and a couple plates of appetizers were scrambled before them before they even had a chance to sit down. Other customers exchanged jealous glances at the food that was placed so quickly on the espers' table, but gasped when they recognized who the special patrons were. Tatsumaki narrowed her eyes at the spectators, and suggested to Fubuki that they sit somewhere more private.

"Really?" asked Fubuki. "What for?"

"Just because," said Tatsumaki. "There's…still some things I want to talk about."

Nodding in silence, the two of them moved to a booth that sat abandoned along the back wall, out of sight of the rest of the restaurant. The manager of the place came out and apologized for their original seating, to which Fubuki shook her head.

"It's fine," she said. "Really, it's ok."

Soon the manager left the two of them, and they received their food only ten minutes after they had ordered it. Tatsumaki marveled at the speed with which the food was thrust onto the table, and started to dig in as the waiters slunk away.

Scarfing her meal down, Tatsumaki looked up at Fubuki, who was grinning at her phone.

"Fubuki," said Tatsumaki. "I need to say something."

Fubuki peered over at her sister, and dropped her phone into her pocket.

"I do too," said Fubuki. Her expression turned serious, with her body angled towards her sister.

"You go first," said Tatsumaki.

Fubuki sighed, and pushed her food out of the way so that she could rest her elbows in front of her.

"I…I'm sorry that I said I hated you," said Fubuki. Her hands slid up her face, so that her fingers were poking right over her eyelids. "I was just so angry…"

"No, no," said Tatsumaki. "I deserved some of what you said." She averted her sister's gaze, while clasping her hands around her legs. "I hurt you."

"You did."

"And I forced you to live the way I thought was best."

"But you never asked me."

"I know. I know it was wrong."

Fubuki let out a small laugh, which Tatsumaki had to strain to hear.

"I'm so glad that you're doing this, sis," said Fubuki.

"Doing what?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Trying to change. For me."

"I don't…want you to leave. And I don't want you to hate me. That's what I was going to say, actually."

"I don't hate you," said Fubuki. Wiping her hands down her face to reveal blurry eyes and raspy breathing, she collapsed further into her seat. "I really don't. Sometimes you still kind of scare me, but the fact that you're opening up…"

"It's hard," said Tatsumaki. "It's really hard."

"I think it'll be good for you," said Fubuki. "I mean, obviously you won't have to run around trying to make friends with anyone or anything. But if I could just show you, that not everyone's trying to take advantage of you…"

 _Like Secter?_ thought Tatsumaki.

"…that I think it would make you feel a lot better about yourself and the world around you," continued Fubuki.

"Maybe," said Tatsumaki. "I guess it's worth a shot. And what about you? Do you…still get frustrated comparing yourself to me?"

"I think it'll be a long time before I stop doing that," said Fubuki. "People still compare me to you wherever I go, and it still…frustrates me."

"Mmm. I don't know if that will stop."

"Probably not," said Fubuki. "But at least I don't need to be consumed by it."

The waiter came back, sleek black rectangle in hand.

"Your check, madams," he said.

Fubuki reached out for it, but her hand was cut short by Tatsumaki's snatching of the object.

"I've got this," said Tatsumaki. "I owe you anyways."

Fubuki smiled at her. Tatsumaki signed her name on the receipt, vaguely aware of the look she was getting from her sister. As the waiter disappeared with check in hand, Tatsumaki turned back to her leftover food.

"Thanks for bringing me out these last few days," said Tatsumaki. "It was fun."

"No problem," said Fubuki.

"I would understand if you never forgave me for what I did."

Fubuki's breath caught in her throat, a restrictive gateway of air blocking the very means that was supposed to conduct it.

"I…still have some trouble with it," said Fubuki. "It'll take time, I think. But still, I'm glad to see you happier."

"I'm glad to see you happy too," said Tatsumaki. "And don't…don't give up on getting stronger just cause of me, ok? I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm not giving up," said Fubuki. "I've actually gone to see Bang about getting my group and I in shape, and he seems quite happy to take up the task."

"He could probably teach you some things," said Tatsumaki. She traced the outer ring of her plate with her finger, lifting it at the spots that were still warm to the touch.

"Are you jealous, sis?"

"No!" Tatsumaki recoiled from her plate, before shrinking back in her seat. She locked her arms together, tight enough to where her elbows turned white from the strain. "I just…don't know if he can teach you the right things. You're an esper, not a martial artist."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to learn some stuff like that," said Fubuki. "Could be neat, to mix the two styles."

"Well, good luck with that," said Tatsumaki.

Fubuki sighed, and crossed her arms just as Tatsumaki did.

"Look sis," said Fubuki. "Tomorrow we're going to be having a little party for all the new people in the dojo, and I want you to come."

"Me?" asked Tatsumaki. "At a party? You know I don't do parties."

"It's a small one. Just me, Bang, the group, and Saitama and his friends."

"Are you Saitama's friend?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. He's hard to read sometimes."

"Hmph."

"Still, I think it would be good for you, you know?" said Fubuki. "At least think about going. For me."

"Why do you want me to go?" asked Tatsumaki.

"I think you'd enjoy it, more than you might think. It would be a good experience too, you wouldn't have to dance or drink or do anything crazy, but just say hello to some people. Let them know that you're not as closed off as everyone thinks you are."

Tatsumaki groaned, and shrunk down further beneath the table, as if hoping the platform would provide a shield from Fubuki's quizzical look.

"Come on," said Fubuki. "I think you'd do ok."

"Maybe," said Tatsumaki.

"You don't have to stay for the whole thing."

"I know!"

"It's tomorrow night, starting at eight."

"You're telling me this as if I've already agreed to go."

"I'm just letting you know, in case you want to stop by."

"I'll think about it."

"Good."

"Fubuki?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad we could do this together."

"Me too," said Fubuki. "We can get better together."

Tatsumaki sniffed. She used her arm to as a handkerchief, trying to blot out the water that formulated at the edges of her eyes.

"We can," said Tatsumaki. "Fuck, I don't know why I'm like this all of a sudden…"

"It's a good thing," said Fubuki. "Shows you, you know, that you care."

"I guess," said Tatsumaki. "I still don't want other people to see it."

"That's ok," said Fubuki. "You want to go home now?"

"Yeah. I'm tired."

"Let's go, sis."

"Ok."

"You want to get some ice cream or something?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

. . .

Tatsumaki slipped on her dress, giving herself a dead look in the mirror. Eyes glazed over, she dragged herself to the living room, and snatched up her phone.

 _Can't believe I'm doing this,_ thought Tatsumaki.

She headed out the door, burying her head in her arm against the biting cold. The moon had long been in the sky by now, and the wind had picked up, causing the trees around Tatsumaki to shiver.

By the time the dojo was in sight, Tatsumaki was quivering from the freezing air, her teeth chattering as she slogged up the steps to the dojo.

 _This better be fucking worth it,_ she thought. _If Fubuki bailed on me, so help me God…_

She came to the front entrance. Her heart did its best to try and beat its way out of her chest. Raising a fist towards the door, Tatsumaki found her hand unwilling to comply. She stood there, one clump of a hand frozen just inches from the front door, and Tatsumaki turned away, struggling to bring herself back. Behind her, the sounds of several rolling metal balls sounded off.

"Sis?" asked Fubuki, who stood in the doorway. "Is that you?"

Tatsumaki gave her a forlorn look.

"Who else would it be?" she asked.

"I'm so glad you're here!" said Fubuki. "Hurry, come inside, it's freezing out here. Why didn't you bring a jacket?"

"I…don't need one," said Tatsumaki.

Fubuki shook her head at the shaky esper and stepped aside to let Tatsumaki in, who followed her sister into the main room of the dojo. There, various members of the Fubuki group chatted and laughed together, while Saitama, Genos, and King clustered around a television that was hooked up to the wall. Charanko stood behind them, his eyes full of wonder, while Bang stared at the television the way one might look at seeing a squirrel inside of a neighbor's car.

Charanko was the first to notice Tatsumaki, gasping at the sight of her.

 _Don't, you idiot,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Don't bring attention to me._

"Is that Tatsumaki?" asked Charanko. He rocketed a finger towards Tatsumaki's exact position. "Your sister?"

"Yes," said Fubuki. "She's decided to join us for the evening. Be nice, everyone."

"To Tatsumaki?" asked Saitama, clenching his controller in agony. "Wait, she's here?"

"It appears so, master," said Genos. "I'm as surprised as you are."

"Welcome, Tatsumaki," said Bang. "I'm surprised to see you here, I didn't think you wanted anything to do with the dojo."

"I didn't," said Tatsumaki. "I came because my sister told me it would be a good idea."

"Well, make yourself comfortable," said Bang. "I'm honored to have you here."

Tatsumaki grumbled to herself, but found a seat not far from the television. The Fubuki group gave her odd sideglances, but Fubuki managed to distract them by asking them all what they had learned thus far. Tatsumaki listened to them carry on about new techniques and fighting styles, before her eyes settled on a bowl of punch sitting on a table across from her. Rising from her seat, she approached the plastic pool of pink liquid and poured herself a cup, before sitting back down again.

"Kind of surprised you're here," said Saitama, who had exploded from his seat not moments before. His head still throbbed from his latest thrashing by King.

"Hmm?" asked Tatsumaki. "Oh, right. Yeah, I didn't really want to come."

"Haven't seen you in a while," said Saitama. "You sure you're doing ok after that fight?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Ok. Just checking."

Tatsumaki sipped on her punch, silently wishing for the bald man to go away.

"Why did you come here anyways?" asked Saitama.

"I told you, my sister wanted me to come."

"Huh. Seems like you two are getting along better then, eh?"

"Yeah. I guess. Trying to make things better with her."

"Well that's good. I think she'd appreciate that."

"Yeah. Now go away, I'm thinking."

"Whatever you say."

"And Saitama?"

"Yeah?" asked Saitama.

"Don't be cruel to my sister," said Tatsumaki. "She seems to value your company, for some reason."

"I won't be," said Saitama. "Hey, there's punch? Think I'll get some." He strode away from Tatsumaki over to the punch bowl.

Fubuki left her group, and sat down next to Tatsumaki, a smile on her face.

"They really seem to enjoy it here," said Fubuki. "The group, I mean."

"Great," said Tatsumaki, not a hint of care in her voice.

Fubuki sighed, her smile fading.

"I know you don't care about them," said Fubuki. "And maybe you still think they're a detriment to me, but I like them. They're my friends."

"They're…fine," said Tatsumaki. "I just don't…know them, I guess."

"Well, you can get to know them if you want."

"Not now. I'm…busy."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know, thinking."

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then."

Fubuki started to get up. Tatsumaki reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Wait," said Tatsumaki.

Fubuki recoiled and let out a little gasp at the touch. This sent an icy wave down Tatsumaki's back. The taller esper sat back down, her eyes trained on her sister's hand.

"What is it?" asked Fubuki. Hints of fear were laced throughout her words.

"What do you…want me to do here?" asked Tatsumaki.

"I don't know, just enjoy yourself. Get to know some people, maybe not put them down all the time."

"Ugh. Even people like Saitama?"

"Even him. He's not so bad…once you get to know him, I guess."

"I'd rather not."

"Well, it's up to you. I just figured you could look around, see that it's not so bad to relax with people every now and again."

"Hmph."

Fubuki rose again.

"Just relax and enjoy yourself," she said. "You might even have some fun!"

"Doubt it."

Fubuki rolled her eyes and headed back to her group, which was all too happy to see her return.

The rest of the night passed in silence for Tatsumaki, who would remain in her seat for the most part, sometimes stealing glances at the tv, other times watching Bang cook. At one point, Bang nearly dropped a clove of garlic on the floor, which made Tatsumaki sneer at his failed cooking skills. But she didn't move, and as time flew by, she grew bored.

"Hey, Tatsumaki," said King. He held up a controller for her to see. "You want to play? I've beaten everybody else."

Tatsumaki noticed Saitama, lying on the ground with a pillow over his face, and Charanko, gaping in awe at the screen.

 _Ugh,_ she thought. _I don't even play video games._

"Come on, I'll go easy on you," said King. "So you can learn."

Tatsumaki glared at him, mistrust swirling in her head.

"Fine," she said. "I'll play once."

Five minutes later, she had tossed the controller on the ground.

"That's bullshit," she said. "This is stupid."

"I know right?" asked Saitama. "King has to be cheating or something."

"No cheats, only skill," said King. "And to be honest, Tatsumaki just kind of button mashes, then panics when things don't go her way. Pretty easy to counter, honestly."

"That's because I don't know the game!" she said.

"Well, you can try listening to what I told you," said King. "And stop spamming projectile attacks."

"Fine," snarled Tatsumaki. "One more."

She picked up the controller again, and felt the back of the couch sink down as Fubuki and the rest of the group crowded around to watch. Tatsumaki would soon watch in horror as her on-screen character fell to the ground, bruised and battered while King's stood without a scratch. Her mouth gaped open as King's fighter pointed down and laughed at her trainwreck of a performance.

"Nope," said Tatsumaki, tossing her controller onto the ground. "I'm done."

"No one can beat him," said Fubuki. "He's unstoppable at this."

"It's stupid," said Tatsumaki. "And a waste of-"

"The food is ready!" shouted Bang.

Huddled together in the warm dojo, Fubuki, Saitama, King, Genos, Bang, the group, and Tatsumaki all chowed down on the soups that the master martial artist had prepared. When Bang walked over to Tatsumaki, beaming at the collective organized within his dojo, he asked her how the food was.

"It's not bad," said Tatsumaki. "Needs more salt in the broth."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," said Bang. He smiled to himself as he sat down next to her.

Tatsumaki drank the rest of her meal in silence, but looked over at the people assorted before her, smiling and chuckling amongst themselves as they ate together. She peered back down into her bowl, whose bottom was visible by now. Setting it down on the floor, she listened to the rest of the others talk, and sometimes found herself joining in the conversation. At one point, she caught herself smiling too.

. . .

By the time Secter had made it to the rampaging steel rhinoceros with lasers for eyes, three heroes had beaten him to the punch. Two of them had already been knocked to the ground, one of whom was bleeding from the stomach and was unconscious.

 _I can't believe they survived all this,_ thought Secter. _Either they're tougher than I thought, or maybe not all monsters go in for the kill._

The third hero was flung into a nearby food stand by the rhino's swinging skull, and Secter stepped forward between the metal beast and the two fallen heroes beside him.

"Don't!" shouted one of the heroes, a man wearing an oversized pair of sunglasses that encompassed the front of his head. "That thing's too strong!"

"Nah, I got this," said Secter. "Can you move?"

"Yeah, I mean, I think so…"

"See if you can get the unconscious guy out of the way," said Secter. "I don't want him to get trampled by this rhino thing."

"Got it!"

The man in the glasses dove on top of the other hero, before dragging him further behind Secter. The robotic rhino scraped its front foot along the ground, watching the two of them struggle to get away.

"Oh no you don't," said Secter. He charged forward, and snagged the rhino's horn as he skidded to a stop in front of the monster. Furious, the rhino flung its head from side to side, and blasted at Secter with fiery beams from its corneas. The lasers vanished into Secter's shoulder, but left no marks and only made him raise an eyebrow.

He pulled the rhino's horn out from its socket, the metallic menace roaring in irritation as he did so. Wires crackled and snapped underneath where the horn used to be, and Secter flipped the horn over in his hand, before slamming it into one of the rhino's eyes. Rearing back, the rhino shook its head in vain to try and dislodge the horn, before giving up on the effort and deciding to charge straight at Secter instead. Secter waited for the creature, standing in place. He pulled his fist back, and launched it straight into the creature's nose just before it crashed into his body.

Chunks of metal and twisted springs exploded from the impact, tearing the rhino apart as it flew backwards from Secter's punch. As it hit the ground, the final bit of its body crumbled apart, the rhino little more than bits of steel by now. The two heroes that remained standing stared at Secter in awe, while the formerly unconscious one rubbed at his skull, mumbling something about what was going on.

"And that's that," said Secter. "You guys all ok?"

The two heroes behind him nodded in unison. A bewildered stare came from the third hero.

"Alright good," said Secter. "Well, I guess I'm out of here then. To be honest, you're all pretty lucky to be alive, that thing could've killed one or more of you."

"Ah, we've seen quite a few fights," said the sunglasses hero. "Been roughed up quite a bit, but we make it through."

"Sounds…demanding," said Secter. "All the more reason people should appreciate heroes more. Especially lower class ones."

"Oh yeah, definitely," said the glasses hero. "We'll have our day."

"Well, I'm glad you're all alright," said Secter. "Even still, it's just…strange to me, to see all this fighting without many…you know, deaths."

"Ah, heroes always make it through," said the glasses man. "Speaking of which, who are you?"

"Name's Secter," he said. "Just passing through. Thought I'd help."

"Looks like you did more than that. Thanks for your help, mister Secter."

"Ah, no problem."

He left the heroes to their own devices as people began to crowd around the wreckage. Striding his way down through the streets, he came to a food vendor just as his stomach started to rumble. After a brief wait in line, it was his turn to order.

"Hey there," said Secter, his eyes lighting up at the choices at his disposal. "I'll have-"

"Hold on," said the counter clerk, his eyes narrowing at the confused man before him. "I know who you are."

"Eh?"

"You're that Secter guy," said the clerk. "Yeah, I heard about you through the neighbors."

"Uh, you've heard of me?"

"You're the one trying to bring a bad name to the HA."

"Well, I do think it's unfair and all, but…"

"No no, you're trying to bring attention to yourself by casting yourself as an outsider or somethin, trying to make the S-classes look bad by being a part of a bad system."

"Only if they reinforce the bad parts of the system," said Secter. "Like Samurai, or Flash, they've got some bad ideas-"

"Those are my favorite heroes!" shouted the clerk. "If you're just gonna try to undermine em without ever becoming a real hero yourself, then you can just leave! Go on, scram!"

Secter's energy levels had dropped to somewhere close to zero, and he let out an aggrieved sigh before moving on. His meal would come from a nearby convenience store, which he brought back home. Frowning at his newly-installed door, he entered the place and stashed his food in the refrigerator. Placing a hand on the fridge as it closed, he looked up at the wooden cabinets above his head.

Secter dived into his liquor cabinet and withdrew a bottle that he couldn't wrap his fingers around all the way. Slamming it down onto his kitchen table, he poured himself a glass of liquid so dark that light around it vanished into its inky texture. Soon, there were two empty bottles right next to him, and Secter's head was as heavy as a bag of cinder blocks. The wall across from him spun away from his vision, before stretching itself out and ricocheting right back. It came closer and closer, almost colliding with his face, before blinking back into existence where it was supposed to be. Secter groaned at the sight, and leaned back in his chair to reach for his fridge. Grasping onto the cool handle of the machine, he wrenched the door open and waved his hand in the air as he struggled to reach for his microwavable meal. Inches away from his fingers, Secter clenched his fist in annoyance and grabbed a plastic container of stir fry instead. He slammed it down on the table, scooping a fistful out with a fork he retrieved from a nearby drawer, and ate it cold. Secter washed it down with half of another bottle of dark liquid before passing out.

The sounds of laughter forced Secter awake, and he squinted at the few rays of light that seeped through his window. Snarling at the human alarm clocks outside, he snatched two more bottles of the black bile.

 _Best to finish em,_ he thought. _Can't let em go to waste if they're open, wait…_

He snapped the caps off of the two bottles, each one stinking as if a toddler were left alone to mix the various chemicals of a research laboratory into one pot.

 _Nooooow they're open,_ he thought.

Deeper and deeper into the bottles he went, and the world around him turned as dark as the liquids splashing into his gullet. Secter muttered and chuckled to himself, sliding a bottle along the top of the table and laughing as it bumped and scratched its way along the surface. As he did this, two figures began to materialize in front of him. Red, twisting entities whose arms remained at their backs, their heads shooting off into the shadows like flashy, neverending fountains of chunky liquid. White squares blinked in and out of existence around their geyser-heads, like burning pixels on a tv.

Secter stopped his bottle-dragging, and gazed up at the two creatures, his head failing to stay at one angle for too long.

"Why didn't you do more?" asked one of the creatures. Its voice was muffled, as if it were speaking while water was flooding down its throat.

"You could have solved this, why didn't you?" asked the other.

"Fuck you," said Secter.

"Why didn't you?" they asked in unison. Secter took another swig of his bile.

The two creatures drifted together, convulsing and merging into a wholly different shape. This time, it was smaller, shrinking until it was eye level with Secter. It retained its red ghostly figure, but instead of a rushing volcano for a head, it was a tangled mass of greenish-brown streaks of thread. They drifted in all different directions, and upon squinting, Secter could make out two tiny yellow dots in the center of the silken sphere.

"You really think you can take credit for this?" it asked. The new entity spoke with poison in its voice, sheer hatred in its tone. Every fiber of this creature's being was bent towards hurting Secter, and it arched over him, two mangled hands extending out from its shriveled, ghastly body towards his throat.

"All you did was talk," it said. "Barged in and tried to ruin my life. I had to do the work, without you. Stay away, or I'll hurt you again."

"Fuck you," said Secter. His hand tightened as the bottle within it started to slip to the ground. It was just enough to keep the glass from crashing onto the ceramic below.

The new entity writhed in pain, its head squelching as it bent over backwards until it was hidden from view by its chest. Slowly the creature enveloped itself, swirling into a muddled red spot in the air until nothing remained but darkness. Secter took another drink.

"Fuckin ridiculous," he muttered. "Trying to enjoy myself here."

He kept enjoying himself for what felt like eternity. Since there was no light around him, time seemed to cease to exist. Secter smiled to himself as he rocked back in forth in his chair, clutching his stomach whenever it screamed at him to stop. His breathing felt solid inside his mouth, every exhale a monumental effort that felt as if it took hours to accomplish. Secter swallowed another wash of dark alcohol, letting its vile flavor encase his tongue.

 _Never were a good taster, were you?_ he thought. _Too bad they never invented a good flavored version. Or maybe they did by now, who the hell knows. Shame you're the only one who works now…real shame…_

"Secter?" came a voice from beyond the blackness.

Secter stopped mid-rock, his eyes scanning for any presence. Nothing but shadows.

Shrugging, Secter tipped the bottle back into his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?" said a stranger. Blinking towards the sound, Secter grasped the side of his head and started to see someone standing in front of his table. Her arms were crossed, as per usual, and a glare was illuminated by the thin rays of light that had materialized from out of the enveloping blackness around him. Secter cowered in his chair away from the sunlight.

"Do you know what time it is?" asked Tatsumaki. "It's nine a.m."

"Tatsumaki?" asked Secter. "Why are you in my house?"

"You weren't answering my calls," she said. "So…I got kind of…you know, worried. Especially with what happened that one time."

"Where is my phone?" asked Secter. He pulled his pocket inside out, dropping nothing but flakes of lint onto the floor. The other pocket yielded the same results. "Oh, must be the bedroom."

"You're drinking," said Tatsumaki. "You're drinking…the hell is that? Oh my god, what the hell is that _smell?_ It smells like there's been a chemical fire in here!"

"Don't drink this," said Secter. He extended the bottle out towards Tatsumaki, who recoiled at its presence. Both of her hands shot up to her nose.

"This stuff'll kill you," said Secter. "But not meee, it's the good stuff."

"What the hell is that? Some kind of alcohol?"

"Yep."

"Why are you drinking at nine a.m, for fucks sakes?"

"Was drinking last night," said Secter. "It's not still night?"

"There's sunlight behind you, Secter."

"Fuck that shit."

Tatsumaki shook her head at him, letting her arms fall as Secter dumped the rest of the bottle into his mouth.

"There's like four bottles around you," said Tatsumaki. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"Fuck off," said Secter. He dropped the newest bottle, which clanged onto the table before rolling onto the ground. Secter watched it fall as he shrunk further into his chair. Swallowing felt like dragging a marble through a chute of sandpaper.

"Look," said Tatsumaki. "I came here, because it had been a while, and I had forgot about what had happened the one time. But you seem to be alright, for the most part. Well, except for all of this crap." She motioned towards the empty bottles, adorning Secter's table like a series of bowling pins after a strike.

"Urgh," said Secter. He grabbed one of the empty bottles, examining its vanished contents.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"No, no sleep."

"Then go to bed," said Tatsumaki. "It's not like you're ever up before noon anyways."

"Fuck you."

Tatsumaki's temples began to throb.

"No, fuck you," she said. "I got up early today, came all this way to check on you, and you're telling me to fuck off? No, that's not how this is going to go."

"Fuck you," said Secter.

Tatsumaki slammed her hands onto Secter's table, fire in her eyes. Secter jumped from the impact, looking at her as if she had just broken it in half.

"You're the only person, aside from Fubuki that is, who I actually talk to," said Tatsumaki. "Don't go acting stupid, as if you get to take advantage of that."

"What do you mean."

"What I mean is that you don't get to waste my time," said Tatsumaki. "Are you going to bed or not?"

"Not yet. One more."

"No." Her voice formed a verbal wall, smashing into Secter as he wrangled with his own chair to get up. At the sound of her command, he sunk back down.

"Why not?" he asked. "Could go all day."

"Absolutely not," said Tatsumaki. "Why are you drinking all this crap anyways?"

"Special occasion," said Secter. "Good stuff, it is, running low."

"Special occasion? You mean like…oh."

"Ohhhhh," said Secter, more to mock Tatsumaki than in realization of what she was talking about.

"You mentioned it, I think," said Tatsumaki. "Well, why didn't you tell me? Or at least remind me! I would've gotten you something, I'm not that cold!"

"You're pretty cold."

"I'm not!"

"Pretty."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "I just don't trust people easily."

"Sounds like something a cold person would say."

"Shut up."

"Ok, miss boss woman."

"I don't like you when you're drunk," said Tatsumaki. "You're kind of a prick."

"No," said Secter. "Can't be. I supposed to fix things, we all were…" He rolled the empty bottle on top of the table, letting it flow beneath his fingertips.

"Who's we?" asked Tatsumaki. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Too bad things went to shit…" said Secter, his focus trained on keeping the bottle going.

"Alright, why don't you just go to bed, Secter. You're talking in gibberish now."

"Whatever you say, Tatsu…"

"And…I wanted to thank you for the gift," said Tatsumaki. She rubbed at her left arm with her right. "That was…very thoughtful of you."

"Yeah, that was a mistake, wasn't it?" asked Secter. "I don't usually give gifts like that, actually, maybe I never did…"

"Really?" asked Tatsumaki. "Wait, a mistake?"

"Go home, Tatsu," said Secter. "I'm drunk."

"I can fucking see that," said Tatsumaki. "But what was that about not giving a gift like that? It seems like it means a lot to you."

"I don't like talking about stuff like that."

"I think I know why that gift meant so much to you."

"Nope. You don't know."

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. About you know, your siblings."

"Don't mention em. Don't want to think about that now, now's a happy time. Except for my stomach, dear god it won't shut up."

"Well, even still," said Tatsumaki. "Just…thanks for the gift. I know it means a lot to you."

Secter stared down at the table, catching the bottle in one hand. His expression turned to stone, with only his chest rising and falling.

"Yeah," he said. "Might've been a mistake. But I like that Tatsumaki. She reminds me of me sometimes. Sometimes she just makes me mad. But I like her."

"Uh," said Tatsumaki, taken aback by the comments. "Right."

"Sometimes she makes me really mad," said Secter. "She called me a failure once, can you believe that?" He chuckled to himself. "But she was hurting real bad, and that made me hurt. She's happy now, and now I can rest."

"Yes, rest. Why not go to bed, Secter?"

"Ok. Getting kind of sleepy now."

"It's right over there," said Tatsumaki, pointing towards his bedroom door. "Can you make it?"

"Of course I can," said Secter. "Cool it, Tatsu, I got this. I am the best, after all. At…walking."

He stumbled out of his chair, smashing head first into the cabinets near the fridge. After waving Tatsumaki away, he pulled himself up, one palm on his forehead. Keeping his other hand outstretched like a blind person would use a cane, Secter found his way back to his room, and collapsed down onto his bed, the pillows wrinkling inwards as his face burrowed its way into them.

"See you later, Secter," said Tatsumaki. "I swear to God, if I come back and you're all cut up or something…"

He grunted at her, body quivering as he started to fall into slumber. Secter flipped himself onto his back as his eyes shut themselves closed.

Tatsumaki rolled her eyes at him, but noticed a couple of strange circular scars around his midsection where his shirt had lifted up. Unlike the elongated white crevices that marked where the cuts had been, these ones looked like old puncture wounds, dark circles of damaged tissue surrounded by lighter layers of the same. Frowning, Tatsumaki left the house, gagging as the smell of the strange liquids followed her outside.

. . .

As Secter awoke from his nap, he felt as if his brain was knocking away at the insides of his skull. He swayed from side to side as he staggered over to his kitchen, a shrill piercing howl sounding off in his ears.

 _Oh god make it stop,_ thought Secter. _This is a bad one._

Fumbling with the refrigerator door, Secter pulled out the microwavable meal that he was supposed to eat last night, and ripped the packaging to shreds before tossing it into the microwave. After it was finished, Secter sat staring at it, his stomach churning at the mere thought of ingesting even a morsel of food.

"You're killin me," he said to his abdomen. "Make up your mind here."

Digging into his food with a fork, Secter was rewarded for his efforts with rising gasses deep inside his stomach, threatening to blast it apart. He slumped over the table, pushing an empty bottle out of the way and his meal even further so.

A knock came at the door, and Secter groaned at it. Someone opened his front entrance, their footsteps drawing near. As Tatsumaki roamed into view, Secter narrowed his eyes at her.

 _What on earth is she doing here,_ he thought.

"Well, you're awake," she said. "That's good at least."

"The hell happened last night," said Secter. "I hardly remember it."

"You got drunk. Said some strange things."

"What? What did I say?"

"Nothing important, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't know, some of the stuff you said didn't make any sense," said Tatsumaki. "Something about you being supposed to fix stuff or something?"

"Oh," said Secter. "No, that doesn't really make sense." He clamped his head between his hands, feeling waves of pain pound from his brain directly into his palms.

"Hungover?" she asked.

"Big time," said Secter. "This is a bad one, too."

"Then take something," said Tatsumaki. "Oh, and here." She handed him a small cardboard box, which Secter lowered his hands to take. He stared at it in confusion.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A gift," said Tatsumaki. "How old are you now?"

"Uh, twenty-eight."

"Ha! I'm older than you!"

"By a year."

"Still."

Secter turned the box over in his hand, examining it at every angle.

"I didn't know what to give you, honestly," said Tatsumaki. "I don't really do…gifts all that often."

"Why are you giving me this?" asked Secter. "I don't recall ever telling you-"

"You never tell me anything about you," said Tatsumaki. "Except on accident."

Secter's head shrunk back into his shoulders, both of which tensed upwards.

"Ah," said Secter. "There's not much to know. Not really important."

Tatsumaki drifted downwards into a chair across from Secter, her chin held up as she did her best to look down upon him. All it took was for Secter to straighten up a little in order to reverse the effect.

"It's not fair, you know," said Tatsumaki. "For you to learn all about me, but for me not to know anything about you."

"What do you mean," said Secter. "I don't know that much about you."

"Yes you do! I've opened up more to you than almost anyone else!"

"How so?"

"You've seen me…cry, for example. No one else, except for my sis, can say that. And you know how I push people away, and other things, too."

"Lonely."

"Well, you are too."

"Another give and take, eh. You're always about that."

"And you're never about giving."

"Well, what do you want to know about me then?" asked Secter. His brows furrowed in irritation. "And why bother?"

"Oh come on," said Tatsumaki. "By this point, we're…you know. Basically friends."

"I didn't expect that coming from you."

"Yeah well, here I am saying it first. And you know I care about you, and I know you care about me. So…that's that."

Secter shifted in his chair, a small smile finding its way across his lips.

"Yeah, I do," said Secter. "And that's nice of you to say."

"I thought it would be obvious by now," said Tatsumaki. "But maybe the great Secter is more oblivious than I thought." Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"I'm not oblivious, just never really sure where you stand on things sometimes. Actually, I don't think you're ever fully sure either."

"I am! And what I'm very sure on is learning more about you."

"Ugh," said Secter. "Why are you pushing on this? No one else has pushed on this…"

"That's dumb. What kind of friends did you surround yourself with before?"

Secter slumped into his chair, defeated.

"It's complicated," he said.

"Then tell me. I'll listen."

For the first time, Tatsumaki saw fear in Secter's eyes – a genuine sense of panic enveloped his expression, his hands gripping the side of the table and his shoulders twitching. Not even when he had been near death had he shown this level of terror.

"It's…" Secter began. "Not…"

"Not what?" asked Tatsumaki.

"It's a long story," said Secter. "Why, uh, why do you want to listen?"

"Isn't that what a friend would do? Fubuki always listened to me when I had a problem. Hell, you listened all the time. That's what you were good at. Why I…you know, talked to you. Trusted you."

Secter sighed, folding his arms behind his head. The ringing in his ears had stopped by now, and the world came into better focus as the pounding in his head turned to tapping instead.

"Yeah, and I guess it's not fair for you to spill things without knowing anything about me," said Secter. "Although to be honest, I'm not really worth delving into."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Tatsumaki. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say, what's with you?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Secter. "What is it you wanted to know about me?"

Tatsumaki felt something drape over her heart, as if a dark cloud had suddenly enveloped her chest and pulled itself tighter and tighter until she struggled to breathe. Shaking her head, she managed to lift the feeling, but she watched Secter with concern in her mind.

"Where are you from?" she asked. "What city? Were you born in this one, the one you live in now?"

"I…don't really remember," said Secter. "I was born here, a while back ago, and left when I was real young."

"Left? What do you mean, left?"

"Oh. Uh, parents took me off-planet."

"What?"

"Yeah, they had connections. Lived in a nice place too, more or less."

Tatsumaki's jaw hung low, incredulous at what Secter had just said.

"So," she said, picking up her slack mouth. "You lived…off-planet."

"Yeah," said Secter. "Most of my life I did."

"And then what?"

Secter shrugged, his face darkening as shadows emerged from under his eyes and nose.

"Not much, really," he said. "My parents were well-off, but they were never close to me. I never did well in school, maybe that's why. When they had my siblings, I think they expected an improvement or something. Turns out, they were just as disappointing to them, and they ended up focusing on their own business."

Secter let out a little sigh. It felt as if a building had just been lifted off his shoulders.

"To tell you the truth, Tatsu," he said. "I've never told this stuff before…to anyone, really."

"I've never talked about family stuff to anyone either," said Tatsumaki. "But go on."

 _I never did see anything about her family through a mind-search,_ thought Secter. _But eh, I've already delved too much. That stuff's personal, she can tell me about it if she wants to._

"Uh," said Secter. "Well, I think I told you before, I pretty much had to take care of my siblings. It was weird, living in one of the nicest houses of a human colony but having nothing to eat. Like I was homeless while still having a home. Parents kept all their stuff in some locked away part of the house, and try as I might, I could never get in. They told me I had to start working to get fed, and would only give us stuff if things looked real bad for us."

"That's fucking stupid," said Tatsumaki, her tone angry.

"Yeah, it was," said Secter. "But it sure as hell motivated me. Got a job, used it to take care of myself and my brother and sister. It was hard, since I didn't make much, and there were plenty of people clamoring for a job, so I was expendable. Even still, kind of made it work."

Secter felt an odd sense of relief talking about these things, different from the dread he had expected to rise when he had begun to speak.

"Sounds difficult," said Tatsumaki.

"Well, what about you?" asked Secter. "How was life with Fubuki back when you were younger, if you don't mind me asking anyways."

Tatsumaki turned away from Secter, her arms crossed so tight that her ribs began to hurt from the strain.

"I thought things were alright then," said Tatsumaki. "But seeing things as they are now, maybe I wasn't so great back then either."

"What do you mean?"

"I was…protective of her back then too. To a similar extent as to now. Didn't help her make any friends, that's for sure. I didn't think she needed any."

"Even back then? Why?"

"Because," said Tatsumaki. "I…I didn't trust people back then, that's all."

"Surely you had a reason," said Secter. "You didn't just start not trusting people on a whim."

"Enough!" said Tatsumaki. "I don't want to talk about something like that."

"Alright, alright," said Secter, his voice going low. "You don't have to tell me everything, that's fine."

Tatsumaki peered up at Secter from her reserved position, her face tired.

"Maybe one day," she said. "I'll tell you. You…"

Tatsumaki closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Are different," she concluded.

"Different?" asked Secter. "How?"

"I don't know, you just are," said Tatsumaki. "Just…the way you act, and the way you listen, and the way you see things. Different."

"In-"

"Mostly a good way," said Tatsumaki. "But we're getting off-topic now."

"Right," said Secter. He got up to fetch himself a glass of water. Turning on the sink, he hovered a cup underneath it. Once it was full, he raised it up to drink.

"I have a question for you," said Tatsumaki. "I just remembered it, actually. Why don't you like hospitals?"

Secter choked on the water rushing into his throat, his eyes bulging and his grip tightening. Underneath his grasp, the glass started to crack and thin rivers of clear liquid swam downwards past his fingers. He slammed the glass down beside him, coughing and sputtering.

"You didn't want to go to one when you were hurt," said Tatsumaki, raising an eyebrow at him. "And I saw you giving a letter or something to a nurse outside a hospital one time, how come you didn't just go in? Unless it was for the nurse herself?"

"You…" said Secter. "Saw that? No, it wasn't for the nurse." His swivel back to Tatsumaki was slow, and he glared down at the ground as if he wanted to tear it to pieces. "And that's…a bad question."

"Why?" asked Tatsumaki.

"It has nothing to do with my family," said Secter. "Nothing to do with anything. I try not to think about it. But I can't."

"What are you talking about?"

"Forget about it," said Secter. His gaze rose from the ground, and Tatsumaki straightened up when she saw his eyes. Bloodshot, burning, and brimming with anger.

"What's with you all of a sudden?" asked Tatsumaki. "This isn't like you, I don't like it."

"Don't ask about it again," said Secter. "That's not something I'm trying to remember right now."

Sitting back down, Secter's blinked until he calmed down.

"Sorry," he said. "Really unhappy memories."

"I can see that," said Tatsumaki. "You seem to have a lot of them."

"Yeah," said Secter. "Guess we all do."

The two of them sat in silence for a while, neither one of them looking at each other.

"You know," said Tatsumaki. "I think I figured out one thing that made you different to me."

"What's that?" asked Secter.

"You never referred to me as a child, or a brat, or a midget," said Tatsumaki. "Well, except for that one time."

"Oh, right," said Secter. "I was kind of distressed. My bad."

"It's fine," said Tatsumaki. "But for some reason, it kind of hurt coming from you. Like you had saved that up to be the worst of insults."

"I guess I kinda did."

"It would've been easy for you to call me things like that, even when you hated me. Why didn't you?"

Secter shrugged.

"I guess, that despite all that you did, I still respected you. I knew there had to be a reason why you're the number two hero, and it couldn't be just power alone. So I strayed from it, even though you did act ridiculously sometimes."

"Don't act like you weren't being ridiculous too," said Tatsumaki. "Barging into my life like you did."

"Hey, I could tell something was really wrong," said Secter. "And it didn't turn out so bad, didn't it?"

"Things are…somewhat better now. And you did help to make them that way. Fubuki's still afraid of me, I can tell, but it'll be a while before I can fully figure this stuff all out."

"That's fair. Probably will take a while for the both of you."

"You should've come to the dojo party last night," said Tatsumaki. "You would've liked it."

"There was a dojo party?"

"Did no one tell you?"

"No."

"That's stupid," said Tatsumaki. "I thought you would've known."

"I'm surprised you went," said Secter.

"For my sister mostly. But it wasn't so bad."

"Huh," said Secter. "Yeah, wish I was there."

"You were too busy drinking yourself to death," said Tatsumaki.

"Right."

"By the way, are you going to open that gift anytime soon?"

Secter's eyes widened and he glanced down at the box, sitting neatly on the tablecloth.

"Oh," said Secter. "Now?"

"Yes, now!" said Tatsumaki. "So I can return it if you don't want it!"

"Return it?" Secter picked up the box, and tore open the top part. He snickered when he saw what was inside.

"Well?" asked Tatsumaki. "It wasn't exactly cheap, and I don't do this often, so you better appreciate it."

"I do appreciate it, but, why?" asked Secter. He pulled the phone out from the box, a sleek black device that lit up as he brought it closer.

"Because your phone looked like crap," said Tatsumaki. "And because you didn't get a gift."

"Ah," said Secter. Burning sensations flared up around his eyelids, and he struggled to let out an exhalation.

"I know it's not really as meaningful as your gift was," said Tatsumaki. "But I figured it would help."

"Right," said Secter, tears forming around the bottoms of his eyes. Tatsumaki leaned closer to hear him.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Fine, fine. Just…thank you for this, Tatsu. Didn't really expect…something like this."

"No problem," said Tatsumaki. "Looks like I'm pretty great too."

Secter sniffled and laughed.

"Yes," he said. "Yes you are."

Tatsumaki's head lifted higher, and she beamed, the happiest Secter had seen her in quite some time.

. . .

"To be honest," said Tatsumaki, following Secter closer to the front entrance. "Had you not tried to help me with Fubuki, I'm not sure what I would've done."

"Ah, I think you could've figured it out," said Secter. "Possibly."

"I don't know. I always had it in the back of my mind that she didn't like me, but I either pushed it away or figured it was only because she was jealous."

"Without looking as to why she might think the way that she did."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, I'm going to get something better to eat," said Secter. "Now that my head doesn't feel like it's full of stuffing."

"I'll be heading home," said Tatsumaki. "And don't hide stuff like that next time."

"I wasn't hiding anything!"

"Don't lie," said Tatsumaki. She smirked. "I can tell when you're lying."

Secter grimaced at her, not sure what to believe.

"Just didn't think it would be worth the trouble," he said. "You were busy and all that."

"Secter, I never give people my phone number. I get the feeling you already guessed that. So when I did, you should've figured that I cared about you enough to at least know some things about you. And I definitely could've made time or something."

"You said it was only for emergencies."

"It was. And still kinda is. But you know, that was kind of a…leap for me. Especially for someone like you, who still kinda annoys me sometimes."

"You're annoyed by everyone."

"I wouldn't be if they weren't so annoying."

"That makes no sense."

"Whatever."

The two of them headed outside, Tatsumaki bundling up from the gusts that flew upon them as they entered the cold.

"I guess I'll see you later," said Tatsumaki. "We should talk…or something."

"Not used to having a friend around, eh?" asked Secter, smile tugging at his lips. "Don't worry, I'm here to provide."

"Provide what?"

Secter shrugged.

"I don't know, entertainment or someone who'll listen," said Secter. "To be honest, it's been a while since someone like you has come along."

Tatsumaki scuffled her feet along the dirt, not wanting to meet Secter's gaze.

"I could say the same for you," said Tatsumaki. "Didn't think I'd like having someone around who acts like you do. But you're someone who actually fucking listens for once, and doesn't call me a brat every fifteen seconds."

"It's called respect," said Secter. "Although I struggled with that when I first met you, let me tell you."

"Oh, I _hated_ you when we first met," said Tatsumaki. "And that wasn't even that long ago, wasn't it? Like two weeks ago?"

"Something like that," said Secter. "Christ, that went by fast."

"Yeah. It's weird."

"Ah, it's a good thing," said Secter. "For both of us."

"I guess so," said Tatsumaki. "Just don't go around blurting to the world that we're friends, alright? Not…not because of how people see you, but because-"

"Of how people see you, gotcha."

Tatsumaki noticed Secter's look and sighed.

"I'm not…embarrassed by you," she said. "You're actually…really strong, and a good person. But I don't know, I just don't feel ready to jump into that kind of area."

"You don't have to go out and make friends left and right."

"Tell that to my sister. Basically guilted me into a party."

"Well, didn't you enjoy it?"

"It was ok."

"Eh, parties aren't for everyone. But I think she wants you to start focusing on people other than her too, and maybe start being a little happier."

"Shift attention away huh," said Tatsumaki. "She's still scared of me, I bet."

Secter dipped his head down and scratched the back of his neck. Every scrape of his fingers felt more uncomfortable than the last.

"I think…" he said. "It might be some time before she's totally comfortable with you. And that's going to be rough, I won't lie. But one day you'll reach out to her, and she'll receive you with open arms."

"I don't like it," said Tatsumaki. "I used to be fine with it, even enjoy that she was afraid. I thought it would help her learn. But all it did was make her hate me. I didn't want that. I thought I was doing everything right."

"No one ever really is," said Secter. "The key is realizing your mistakes and doing everything you can to fix them."

Tatsumaki peered up at Secter, her eyes narrowed.

"You've done stuff like this before, haven't you?" she asked. "You're a bit too good at giving advice."

"Eh, I like to give advice when I can. Even then, it's not perfect advice. But you know what I do?"

"I'm not saying it," said Tatsumaki.

"Come on, you know what I do?"

"No."

"I think you know…"

Tatsumaki groaned.

"You realize your mistakes and fix them," said Tatsumaki.

"Exactly," said Secter, nodding his head. "Don't mean to sound preachy or anything, but it gets the idea across, I guess."

"Well, you've definitely not realized all of your mistakes, that's for sure."

"I mean," said Secter, the words freezing in his throat as his breath materialized in front of him. "Probably not, no, but no one's perfect."

"Hang on, getting a call," said Tatsumaki. She pulled her phone out from her pocket, glanced at it, then sent it rushing back in.

"What?" asked Secter. "What is it?"

"Wave of monsters," she said. "Not far from here. Few S-class already tried to stop them and we lost communication with them."

"Wait, you have a direct line with the HA?" asked Secter. "That…would actually be kinda nice for me."

 _I could at least keep my phone close by when I'm sleeping,_ thought Secter.

"Not now," said Tatsumaki. "I need to go."

"I'm coming with," said Secter.

Tatsumaki floated past his head, before turning back at him.

"Fine," she said. "But stay close."

. . .

Giant slimes and twisted, wooden behemoths roamed the wreckage of the neighborhood, all being led by a hulking beast of fire, its skull visible underneath a wreath of flames. Next to it stood a woman with dark eyes and a barbed whip, cackling at the broken heroes before her. More creatures crawled up from craters in the ground, dozens of gleaming eyes dotting the darkness below. One tiger-like creature, several meters in height and with dozens of shining black spheres attached to its back, walked to the front of the mass of beasts right next to the burning skull demon and the sadistic woman.

"These are the strongest they have?" asked the burning skull. "How did they beat us before?"

"They got lucky," said the woman. She snapped her whip at the feet of one of the heroes, his arms bloodied and bent behind his spine. Next to him was a scarred samurai, crawling along the ground.

"S-rank four," said the burning skull. "Oh, the awards I will get."

"Don't forget about those two," said the woman, pointing towards a mound of upturned flesh that had been lodged into a building and an unconscious child with a series of torn-up metal arms protruding out of his backpack. "Didn't even see it coming."

"I claim this as a new dawn for monsterkind," said the fiery cranium. "All monsters! Heed my call! We will rise once again from the ashes of the Monster Association, and will claim a section of the city as our own. We will no longer live under the feet of these wretched heroes!"

"Yes, yes!" yelled the woman. "This is getting me excited."

"Explodigore," said the skull. "Ready the bursts. I want to send these idiots sky-high."

The tiger next to him snarled, light shining forth from its eyes and mouth. It crept towards the samurai, slamming a slab of a paw down onto his leg. The samurai cried out, and extended his hand towards a half-melted sword a few feet away. Above him, laughter.

"Not much without your sword, aren't you, samurai?" asked the skull.

"Inferno," said the woman.

"Merely a showman," said Inferno, his teeth clacking as he laughed at the fallen hero. "You can't cut what melts metal, can you?"

"Inferno!" said the woman.

"What is it, Do-S?" asked Inferno.

"It's her!" shouted Do-S. "Look! The esper!"

"What?" asked Inferno. His skull extended up into the air, head aloft by a twirling ripcord of a spine, each joint glowing and crackling with fire. A woman could be seen flying straight towards him from the sky, her arms extended back as if she were bracing for impact.

"I see," said Inferno. "Is that the one they call Tornado?"

"That's her," said Do-S. "Maybe…maybe we should head back."

"Nonsense!" said Inferno. "I just got here! And we have an army at our backs, what good could she possibly do against all of us?"

"She's strong," said Do-S. "Very strong."

"So am I," said Inferno. His skull whipped itself back into place. "Explodigore, make sure that pathetic samurai doesn't move. And keep your bursts ready, that Tornado should be right above us in-"

Tatsumaki floated down right next to Atomic Samurai, keeping herself high enough so as to look down on Inferno.

"What's all this?" asked Tatsumaki. "Atomic Samurai? You lost to this loser?"

Atomic Samurai groaned, spitting out a chunk of dirt and blood.

"Well stay down then," said Tatsumaki. "I'll handle this."

"Not so fast, Tornado," said Inferno. "Do you realize how outmatched you are? We have you outnumbered a hundred to one, and I just took down that samurai single-handedly. Even if you beat me, you won't be in for an easy fight."

Tatsumaki looked over at the half-naked woman, and sneered at her. Do-S stepped back, her arms trembling.

"I know you," said Tatsumaki. "You were lucky to get away. You won't be so lucky this time."

"You…you stand no chance!" said Do-S. "Give up, or we'll destroy you!"

Tatsumaki scoffed, and flung both her arms to her sides.

"I really doubt that," she said, as her eyes began to glow.

"Time to get to business," said Inferno. "You ready to get – hey, who's that?"

Tatsumaki saw a shape in the corner of her vision, a man in a fleece jacket stepping over towards the downed Child Emperor and Pig God and talking to them.

"That's Secter," said Tatsumaki. "Ignore him."

"He a hero too?" asked Inferno. "He looks like an idiot."

"He is an idiot, but he's my idiot," said Tatsumaki. "But you're about to become mincemeat, so it won't matter."

"Do-S!" shouted Inferno. "Get him! Everyone else, with me on the midget! Explodigore, set up an explosive perimeter! I don't want any more sky intrusions."

Explodigore snarled and ran back, while every other monster dashed forward. Do-S gleefully leapt away from Tatsumaki and landed behind Secter, who turned to investigate the noise.

"What the hell?" asked Secter. "Uh, lady, I think you picked the worst place possible to go to a fetish convention."

"The only convention here is one of monsters," said Do-S. "And you're about to find out what that feels like."

"Right," said Secter. He looked back at the two battered S-class heroes. "You two stay here, I got places to be."

Do-S reared back, whip flying overhead. As she swung it forward, any trace of her target disappeared, not even an afterimage in his wake. The whip struck the ground, Do-S jolting in confusion at the sudden vanishing of her prey. She started walking back over to Inferno, who was surrounding Tatsumaki with his group of monsters. To her surprise, Secter was at Tatsumaki's side. Several monsters gasped at his appearance and Inferno tilted his head. Tatsumaki only smirked.

"You want me to take this one?" asked Secter.

"You can – what?" asked Tatsumaki. "You really think you can take all of them?"

"Oh, without a doubt," said Secter.

"You know what?" said Tatsumaki. She settled down to the earth. "I'm curious to see you actually fight. Go ahead. But if any of them get to you, or are going to escape, then I'm stepping in."

"Feel free," said Secter. "Won't be necessary though."

"Enough talk!" shouted Inferno. "Let's fight!"

Away from the group, Explodigore released its black spheres from its back, each one careening high into the air before stopping just above the heights of nearby buildings. Miles of dark circles hung in the sky, each one shifting and turning. The tiger purred at its creation.

Meanwhile, Secter reared back, grinning deviously as his fist drew behind him. Inferno charged with his horde of monsters, smashing his two slab-sized palms of flame together in a threatening show of fiery force.

"Add Tornado to the list," said Inferno. "Of heroes I killed!"

Inferno's fist was inches away from Secter's face, and Tatsumaki's shoulders tensed, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Instead, Secter's fist collided with Inferno first, and the entire world turned yellow. Bright waves of red and green and yellow encapsulated the monsters, and Secter jumped miles into the air before smashing back down into the ground, fist extended. Creatures of all sorts around him turned to dust in his wake, while Inferno's body disintegrated into tiny burning pieces. Howls of pain only lasted for a second until there was silence. Tatsumaki blinked at the flash of light, whose beams extended from the sky beyond. Giant pulsating cracks divided the clouds above her, each one bleeding red streaks which extended down to the tops of buildings.

Secter picked himself up from his landing spot, and raised his hand. He crunched his fingers together to make a fist.

All that was left of most of the monsters clumped together in a living ball, a sphere of screeching creatures that grew smaller and smaller as Secter watched. Explodigore was sucked into the sphere, roaring in confusion as it too shrunk to the size of an insect. Then, they were no more.

The lights faded. The cracks in the sky sealed together and their streaks shook themselves out of existence. Tatsumaki watched, unable to move. Do-S did the same, the only living monster left.

Secter slapped his hands together, dust flying from them as he did so, and he returned to Tatsumaki, admiring the area.

"Well, I guess that's that," he said. "Not really a fun job, but someone's gotta do it."

"You…" said Tatsumaki. "Did all that."

"Yeah," said Secter. "Are you surprised by this?"

"No, I guess not," said Tatsumaki, rooted to the spot. "Wait, you left one."

Secter flipped around, spotting Do-S cowering beneath a pile of rubble.

"Oh, is she a monster?" asked Secter. "She looks human to me."

"She is," said Tatsumaki. "She attacked my sister once."

"Ah," said Secter. "I don't…"

He watched Do-S rise from the rubble, her entire body shaking from fear. She froze at the sight of him.

"What are you?" she asked. "What the hell are you? Some kind of hero?"

"Pretty much," said Secter. "The latest and greatest in hero technology."

"Leave…leave me alone," said Do-S. "Don't kill me."

"Wasn't planning on it, really," said Secter. "Unless you're looking to hurt a bunch of people like all the others."

"Stop gawking at her and finish her off," said Tatsumaki. "Or else I will."

"You sure she's a monster?" asked Secter. "She doesn't really look like one."

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. "Yes, I'm sure. Look, if you won't do it, then I will."

She swiped her hand out in a corkscrew gesture, sending the nearly nude woman flying into the air. In the distance, Secter spotted her spin into a wall of concrete, smashed against a building for a second before sliding dozens of meters to the ground.

"There," said Tatsumaki. "It's easy."

"Yeah," said Secter. "I just don't like it."

"You didn't have a problem with any of the others."

"They were different. They attacked you and me, already attacked others, did damage, and threatened to attack more." Secter counted each point he made with his fingers. "She…I don't know, I just don't like it."

"Whatever," said Tatsumaki. "Looks like you could be S-class, by the way. Like…up there."

"I don't really care. And besides, it's not like anyone's gonna know this was me anyways."

He gestured to the still-unconscious heroes strewn among the ground.

"You don't know, someone could've saw," said Tatsumaki.

"Nah, I didn't detect anyone," said Secter. "Besides, I don't really care for getting credit. This might as well have been you."

"Right," said Tatsumaki. "Not a fan of the spotlight."

"No, just don't need it," said Secter. "Don't really…deserve it."

"That's dumb. All this talk of appreciation, and you deserve the most."

Secter felt his cheeks turning red. His entire face began to glow with heat.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You did a lot for me, and everyone else," she said. "You deserve something."

"I really don't," said Secter. "Trust me."

"What's with you?" asked Tatsumaki. "All this talk, I don't like it. It bothers me."

"Can we just get the samurai and the others out of here?" asked Secter. "Oh, it's the samurai." He prodded at the face-down hero with his foot. "Not really the biggest fan of him, but at least he was out here."

"Fine, fine," said Tatsumaki. "We'll take them someplace safer. After that, let's get something to eat. I'm starving."

"That sounds nice," said Secter.

He bent down to start to lift Atomic Samurai. As he did so, the black spheres that were still hanging in the sky exploded.

Tatsumaki gave them a puzzled look, watching as each one blew apart harmlessly in a waffle pattern. As she glanced back down, she saw Secter watching them, his eyes wide. When the explosions grew close, Secter fell to his knees.

"No," he said. "Make that stop."

"The spheres?" asked Tatsumaki. "They're too high to do anything."

Burning bursts directly overhead. Ashes drifted onto Secter's scalp, and he winced at every miniscule impact. His ears rang with the blasts of every single explosion.

"Stop that," he said. "Please stop that."

"What's wrong with you?" asked Tatsumaki. "It's just a couple of-"

The blasts were all around them now, the final wave of spheres destroying themselves in great white flashes of light. It was as if one were staring into the sun no matter which way they looked. Apartments that were too close to the blasts blew apart at the impact, and Secter shuddered into a kneeling position, refusing to let the sights creep in. But he could still hear.

"No," he said. "Make that stop!"

Tatsumaki grimaced, her mind panicking at the sight of her cowering friend. At once, she swept her arms away from her body, carrying the flames with her in a cosmic gust of green energy. The lights and flames faded into a tornado, which drifted away until it fizzled out on the horizon.

"You ok?" asked Tatsumaki.

Secter clutched at his face with his hands, doing his best to cover his ears. More explosions, more were everywhere. Not a single minute went by without another bursting apart right beside him. Somewhere out there, someone was yelling for him. He strained to listen, but no words were discernible above the noise. Somewhere…

"Secter!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Snap out of it!"

The explosions ceased. As did the voice.

Secter collected himself and got up, every breath interrupted by pains rising deep from his chest cavity. Tatsumaki listened to his stuttered breathing, and stepped beside him.

"Let's go, Secter," said Tatsumaki. "No reason to stay here."

"Please," said Secter. "Let's just go."

Tatsumaki was never sure, but she could've sworn she saw Secter crying underneath his quivering hands. Her heart ached for the man, even though she had no idea where his pain was coming from.

. . .

The two of them sat on a bench, Tatsumaki admiring her miniature tower of ice cream while Secter chomped into a sandwich. His eyes were distant, covered by a film of time. Tatsumaki bit down into her ice cream, her teeth flaring in pain from the icy impact. She swirled the dessert in her mouth, before turning to Secter. Her throat grew cold even before she swallowed.

"You seemed a bit off back there," said Tatsumaki. "Like it…really bothered you."

"I don't like stuff like that," said Secter. "I try to avoid it."

"I see," said Tatsumaki. "Well, your powers are certainly…impressive, I guess. The sky thing was kind of weird, and the ball thing was creative, actually. I could…probably do something like that."

"Go for it," said Secter. Nothing came from his voice except for empty words.

"You should go home, Secter. Get some sleep or something."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"It's been a long day."

"It has."

Tatsumaki watched him carefully, measuring every slow bite he took into his sandwich through tired eyes. She reached out to him, her hand meeting his arm. Secter stiffened, the touch shocking him back into reality.

"Secter," said Tatsumaki. "I'll listen to you too, you know? And don't go thinking that you're not worth my time. You…are."

Secter chest turned into a steel cage, his heart pounding to break free. He swallowed hard, pulling his vision back to his sandwich.

"Thanks Tatsu," said Secter. "You really…you've really gone further than anyone else has, you know? As scary as it is…I think it's a good thing."

"It is kind of scary," said Tatsumaki. "But you said it yourself, it's a growing thing. And it's good for the both of us."

From across the street, Tatsumaki spotted her sister sitting at a café, eating a salad. Her sibling's eyes grew wide at the sight of the two of them, and Tatsumaki shrank away from the man next to her.

"Well," said Tatsumaki. "I think we should go home now."

"Hmm? Yeah, it's getting late."

"Right," said Tatsumaki. "Well, I'll see you later Secter."

"See you Tatsu," said Secter.

Tatsumaki pulled herself up and tossed her cone into the trash, doing her best to avoid the attention of her sister across the street. Fubuki on the other hand had turned back to eating her own meal.

"And Tatsu?" asked Secter.

She looked back at him, a rising wave of heat billowing from her stomach to her chest.

"There's…still a lot," said Secter. "Just…never mind."

"Oh," said Tatsumaki, frowning. "Ok then. Just remember though, I'm…here for you."

The esper vanished from view, leaving Secter to watch her go. Tossing his sandwich wrapper out, he smiled as he thought about Tatsumaki's last words to him before having his happy expression vanish as other thoughts crossed his mind. Secter slouched in his seat, little pops sounding off in his ears every time he thought back to the bursts of before. Grumbling, he noticed someone sit down next to him, a woman with a smile on her face.

"Well that was interesting," said Fubuki. "You and my sister right there."

"Oh, hey Fubuki," said Secter. "Didn't see you there."

"I was getting some dinner," said Fubuki. "And I saw you with my sis."

"Oh yeah, we were getting food too."

"I didn't see you at the dojo party, did no one tell you?"

"Not really."

"Damn. I should've told you then. Or maybe my sis, considering how she's got a bit of a thing for you."

"She…is definitely closer to me."

"Well yeah. She was actually touching you."

"Hmm?"

"She was reaching out and touching your arm, Secter."

"Oh, right," said Secter. "Yeah, I almost didn't notice."

"Really? I have never, ever seen her do that with anyone. She's…kinda different now, and I think you had an influence on her."

"I hope it was a good one."

"It's definitely good. She's trying to be more understanding now, and branching out a bit too."

"To be fair, she wanted to make things right with you even without me."

"Yes, but you helped. And I'll always appreciate that."

Secter's head sunk down low, shadows creeping over the sides of his face as the dusk enveloped the world.

"Thanks Fubuki," said Secter. "I, uh, am glad to know that I helped."

"You did," said Fubuki. "But in all seriousness, I think my sis sees you as something kinda special."

"Maybe. Who knows."

"Oh come on. You're the only person she talks to aside from me. She talks about you nonstop when you're not around, and I just caught her reaching out to you, and she was all embarrassed about it. Well, that last part might've been for other reasons too, but you know what I mean."

Secter shifted from side to side, never fully comfortable.

"She uh," said Secter. "Yeah. I did kind of figure something was going on."

"Well," said Fubuki. "If you don't mind me asking, anyways…"

"Ask what?"

"How do you feel about her? You've always been more of a mystery to me honestly, although to be fair, I've spent my life with Tatsumaki."

"She's close to me," said Secter. "Closer than I've been with anyone in a long time. Makes me…happy, but nervous. Very nervous. I don't know…"

He sighed, clasping both hands onto his knees. Jeans crinkled beneath his grasp.

"Not sure huh?" asked Fubuki. "I don't blame you, my sister is very…forceful. And rude. And childish. And a real asshole sometimes."

"Well yes," said Secter. "But she wants to change, and that's very brave of her."

"It is. But we'll see how far it goes."

"Are you willing to trust her?"

"I…I can," said Fubuki. "But it'll take some time."

"Definitely. I understand that. Especially with what I saw."

"Stuff like that had been going on for a while."

"She kind of told me about it," said Secter. "Seemed to regret it now."

"Good," said Fubuki. "I don't like to think about all of it."

Streetlights flickered into existence all around them, and the passing crowds grew thin. Secter thought he saw some strangers give him glances as they went by, but many were looking at the person besides him instead.

"You mentioned Tatsumaki talking about me," said Secter. "What does she say exactly?"

"All kinds of stuff," said Fubuki. "Sometimes it's stuff about how exactly you would annoy her if you were around, sometimes it's stuff about how she regrets giving you her number, but sometimes I catch her say things that mean something else."

"Like what?"

"There was this one time when we were out shopping, and she was going through outfits like usual. She picked one of them out, and was looking at herself in the mirror with it. She asked me how it looked, and I told her it looked ok. Then she got all annoyed, and told me that you would probably like it."

Secter chortled, a smirk tracing along his face after the laugh.

"Not much of a fashion guy, as you can tell," said Secter. "But hey, I'm sure she looked fine."

"You should've seen how embarrassed she got," said Fubuki. "Face turned bright red, and she told me to forget that she had said that. Of course, that just made me remember it more."

"Wow Tatsu. Maybe she was afraid you would tell? Oh wait."

"Hey, it's important you know," said Fubuki.

"Is that so."

"Yeah. She seems happier with you around, even if it's hard to tell sometimes. And I like seeing that. And I think you respect her as a person more than most people, and seem to really listen to her. So if she really likes you, and you weren't sure, well, there's more proof for you. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind if you two were a bit closer."

"Ah," said Secter. "Are you…playing matchmaker here?"

Fubuki crossed her arms and leaned back, her eyes closing as a devious hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"I might," she said. "And there was another time you know. Another thing she did."

Secter shook his head, a mighty inhale punctuating the air.

"And what was that?" he asked.

"It was when we were at the lake," she said. "Before she went in."

"And," said Secter, raising an eyebrow.

"I caught her looking at herself in the mirror before we went out," said Fubuki. "I mean, she's done stuff like that before, that's always been the thing she's been the most self-conscious about, even if she really tries to hide it-"

"I'm not sure you should be telling me this," said Secter. "That sounds like something she would tell me when she's comfortable."

"Look, you're closer to her more than anyone except maybe me," said Fubuki. "I don't think it hurts to know this stuff."

"Alright, alright," said Secter. "Even still, she won't be happy if she finds out about any of this."

"Just don't tell her. And I know, but I just want you to understand her better, if you don't already."

"Alright then…"

"But anyways, she was looking herself over. And she didn't say anything, but, I don't know. She looked almost disappointed. She's always had trouble with that sort of thing, but I had never seen her look at herself that way in a while. I think…I think it might've been because of you."

"Oh…"

"Not that you made her look at herself in a bad way, just that she was always kinda disappointed in how she looked and when you came around, she looked at herself even more closely."

"She looks fine to me," said Secter.

"I think she'd like to hear you say that," said Fubuki.

Secter yawned before slouching forward, his back aching from his awkward position.

"She might," he said. "I don't know."

"I think she really would," said Fubuki. "And I think you know she would."

"She probably would."

"Well, just keep it in mind," said Fubuki. "I'm going to be heading off, but I just thought I'd share. We should hang out sometime, or maybe even train or something. Sis says that you're actually pretty strong."

"Not as strong as I'd like to be."


	6. Chapter 6

Tatsumaki brushed a comb through her hair, squinting at the mirror as she got ready for bed. Outside a nearby window the sun had vanished from view, leaving a sprawl of orange waves in its wake. After the last kink was out, she shuffled her way into her bedroom, her eyelids drooping as the bed grew within reach. Her phone rang from atop her bedside table, and Tatsumaki grumbled as she snatched it, unsure of who would be calling her at this hour.

 _If it's another monster attack I swear to God,_ she thought. _Have to do nearly everything myself._

It was from Secter.

Tatsumaki stared at the screen, blinking in confusion for a second. Her finger hovered closer to the answer button, but the call ended before she came into contact with the icon. Neither her finger nor her eyelids moved as she stood in place, before she finally tapped a code into her phone to activate the homescreen.

DID YOU MEAN TO CALL ME, she texted at Secter.

Tatsumaki flopped onto her bed, her arms stretching out to her sides.

 _Only for emergencies,_ she recalled. _Maybe this was just a fluke?_

The layers of light in the sky outside disappeared, finding themselves replaced by flickering streetlights and neon OPEN signs. Tatsumaki clenched her phone in one hand, waiting for it to vibrate as she got up and stood near her bedroom window.

Nothing came.

Tatsumaki sighed, before rising from her blankets and heading over to her dresser. Changing into her typical dress, she tossed her pajamas aside as she turned towards the door.

She paused, one hand on the side of her dress. The black fabric crumpled in her grasp.

 _Wouldn't hurt to check on him,_ she thought.

Leaving her house, she shivered to herself as she braved the cold winds of late fall. She made it to Secter's home, the streets almost empty. The door careened out of the way as Tatsumaki entered, and she swallowed as a familiar smell reached her nostrils.

 _Fuck, not again,_ she thought. Closing the front door behind her, Tatsumaki crept over to Secter's bedroom, whose entrance was wide open.

"Secter?" she asked. "You there?"

"Yeah," croaked Secter.

Inside, Tatsumaki could make out Secter's outline as he sat upright in his bed. Blankets lie ruffled over his legs, and Secter stared down at them, blood dripping from the tip of his nose. Tatsumaki drew closer, cursing at the smell and the red stains all over his formerly washed sheets. Like the time before, gashes adorned Secter's body, a crevice so dark on his forehead that it looked as if she could see into his skull. The cut stretched from one end of his head to the other, and streams of blood ran down from it to the bridge of his nose, the top of his mouth, and all along his cheeks. Occasionally Secter would wipe at the running red, spreading it along his face.

"Fucking hell," said Secter.

"Well, at least you don't look as bad as last time," said Tatsumaki. "You need me to get anything?"

"No, got them right here," said Secter. He gestured to a pile of needles and bandages atop his bedside table, right next to a tennis ball held in place by a tiny wire stand.

"And you haven't used anything yet?"

"It just now stopped," said Secter. "Like, as you were coming in, I think. Fuck, I knew this was going to happen too. And last time, that was a bad one. I figured it was coming that time too."

"The…time with your guts out," said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah," said Secter. "That was the worst one in a while."

Tatsumaki grimaced, the hairs along her arms standing at attention.

"Alright," she said. "You have to explain what's going on, Secter. I want to help stop this."

"It's…tough," said Secter. "I panicked a little bit earlier, and I think I called you before it happened."

"You did, but you hung up."

"Yeah. Got scared."

"About what?"

"I didn't…want to burden you, I guess."

"This is worth my time," said Tatsumaki. "I know I don't really show it very well, but I really do want to help you, Secter. Believe it or not, seeing you like this hurts me too."

"That's why I hung up. Why I didn't want you to come."

"But you being here alone after all this would hurt me way more," said Tatsumaki, shock passing through her face. "I told you, you're worth my time. No matter how much you might think me seeing you like this might hurt me, remember that I will do everything I can to make this stop for you. It's not a burden for me, because the outcome is you being happier. And that's all I want."

Secter stared at her, his eyes wide. They began to soften as a chuckle escaped his lips.

"You're starting to sound like me, Tatsu," said Secter.

"You cared about me," said Tatsumaki. "And I care about you. Please, Secter, please. Don't…mistake me being distant for me thinking you're a burden. That's not how it is."

"Ah…"

"It's still not easy for me to express how I feel sometimes," said Tatsumaki. "Even with my sister, even with you. I'm…just not used to it. But I want to get better at it, especially with you."

"That's…sweet, Tatsu," said Secter. "But it's not just that really…it's everyone. Remember when you first saw me all cut up?"

"Yes…"

"Well, part of the reason why I got so scared and anguished was because I was afraid you'd tell somebody what you had seen. I was really upset because it was you, someone I cared about who saw me, but I also didn't want anyone else to know. I don't want anyone to worry about me like that, I don't want to have to trouble anybody with shit like this."

Secter's head drooped down low, letting blood run further down his face. His expression grew dark as the room itself.

"I'm not worth other people's time," he said.

"That's not true," said Tatsumaki. She shook her head, curls shivering violently along with her body. Her arms trembled and she could feel a fire rising in her heart. "It's not."

"It…just is, Tatsu," said Secter. "I never talked about myself, I've got too much shit for other people to deal with. They shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that, it's not fair to them."

"No," groaned Tatsumaki. "No. And I never would've told, Secter, this is between us, you need to let me know about this stuff, I never would've told…"

"I…tried to reach out to you," said Secter. "But it was a mistake. Just…go back home, ok? I promise I'll be fine after this one."

"No, no," said Tatsumaki. "You can't do this. You can't say this. What about all the stuff we talked about? All the times we talked with each other? You can't-"

"I tried to not to talk about me. Trust me, there were times when I came close, but it's for the best I don't."

"I want to know you better, Secter. I need to."

"What?"

"I…like you," said Tatsumaki. "A lot. I thought it would be kind of obvious by now, but maybe not." Her face began to burn, and Tatsumaki sighed. "And I know you're worth my time. I know it. I don't know how to express it very well, but…"

She looked up at him, tears flowing down her face.

"I can't let you think like that," she said. "It only leads to bad places. I'll do anything to make you believe otherwise. You have to know, Secter, that nothing you do really troubles me. You're not a burden to me, in any way, shape, or form. And you're not a burden to anyone else, there's a lot of people who really appreciate you! And if they don't, then they will. They should."

"Tatsu, I don't really want that kind of attention," said Secter. "But what you think…"

"It's not just attention," said Tatsumaki. "You said it yourself, all the time. It's _appreciation._ Whatever your past might hold, I'll help you through it. And so would others. Because we appreciate you, Secter."

She stared at him, before turning back to the floor.

"Does that…does that make sense?" she asked. "I just feel a big whirlwind in my brain, it's hard to talk."

"Yeah, yeah, I think so," said Secter. He reached out for a bandage and wrapped it around the gash on his forehead, wincing at the stinging pain that crackled around his skull. "Tatsu, I'm not sure what to say…"

"If you think I'm going to leave you alone, you're crazy," said Tatsumaki. "You've done so much for me, and I can't let you go around thinking that you don't deserve help from anybody else. I know what it's like to feel alone, trust me. It…was very hard."

"I'm used to it."

"Well, not anymore," said Tatsumaki. "And not for me, either. We've got each other now. And we can take it slow, just like we did before. Just you and me, there for each other."

Secter sniffed, a gunked-up cough escaping his breath.

"Agh," he said. "You're gonna make me cry, Tatsu."

"I'm already crying, a bit," said Tatsumaki.

"I didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't. You just scared me. I want you to be happy. I'll do whatever I need to."

"Tatsu…" said Secter. He searched his mind for words, but only found a jumbled mess of emotions and pain.

"Can you…can you tell me how you got all cut up?" asked Tatsumaki. "Please. For me."

"Like I said, it's hard to explain. Even I don't understand it fully."

"Can you try?"

"I…I guess. But…I have a feeling it's connected with a lot of stuff from my past. Stuff I haven't really talked to you about. To anyone about."

"I'll listen if you want to tell me," said Tatsumaki. "I didn't mean to push before, I'm just kind of worried."

"It's fine, it's fine. I…did call you here in the first place. Maybe talking about it a little won't be so bad for me."

"Yes!" said Tatsumaki. "And if you've done it before, you can do it again. Just between us."

"Right, I did tell you about my family, didn't I," said Secter. "Well, I didn't tell you about where I went after my siblings got old enough to take care of themselves, did I?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh. Well…it's…hard for me," said Secter. "Very hard. It's not so much what came right after my siblings went off as it is what happened…later."

"You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want," said Tatsumaki. "But please, please don't think this will burden me. I want to know, I want to know why you're hurting so bad. Why you'd think you weren't worth other peoples' time."

"Because I don't like myself very much," said Secter. "Kind of…hate myself, honestly. I was pretty much a failure until I got here, and I still fucked things up really."

"What?" asked Tatsumaki. "I don't understand. You helped things between me and Fubuki, and you're getting people to see the HA in a new way. How…how can you hate yourself? You're always so…"

Tatsumaki's mouth hung open and her eyes widened.

"Oh," she said. "I…think I'm starting to understand. Even still, I don't know how you could hate yourself. I think you're pretty great!"

Secter smiled.

"Thanks Tatsu," he said. "But the fact of the matter is, I…I'm just not…"

"You're not a failure," said Tatsumaki. "I know what you're going through, even if it was a bit different for me. It's…very hard to talk about."

"You do?"

"I never really saw myself as a failure, but there were days where I just wanted to hide from everybody. Wanted everyone to leave me alone. I knew no one was coming anyways, but I felt like the whole world was against me. Hated me, even. I didn't want to care, I just wanted to stay away. They couldn't hurt me if I was away, or was too strong for anyone to get near."

"It sounds like the both of us aren't very happy."

"You've made me pretty happy."

Secter's cheeks warmed, a meek smile spreading across his face.

"That's good," he said. "I like to see you happy."

"And I want the same for you," said Tatsumaki. "This whole thing has been kind of a mess, huh? We…don't really know how to say all the things we want."

"No, I guess not."

"Well, just know that no matter what, I'm there for you," said Tatsumaki. "You've made me feel things that no one else has. Showed me that I can express myself without needing to feel afraid or make others afraid. Listened and respected me as a person rather than as a tool. I'll…always appreciate you for that. Always…want to get close to you."

Secter's whole face was burning, and he thanked the darkness for shrouding his expression.

"You uh," said Secter. "You really feel that strongly about me, don't you?"

"Let me put it this way," said Tatsumaki. She sidled up to the corner edge of his bed, and sat down next to him, swiveling her legs over so that she was angled the same way he was. Secter scooted over, kicking the bloody blankets out of the way so that Tatsumaki might have some leg room.

"You're not the first person I've ever opened up to," said Tatsumaki. "But you're the first person I've ever wanted to go after. The only person I wanted to know more about, and who I wanted to know more about me. It took a while for me to realize this, but I really do want to be closer with you, Secter."

"Ah," said Secter. A lump formed in his throat. "Are you…are you sure you want to sit here? It's a bit of a mess."

"There's not much here," said Tatsumaki. "And I've helped clean you up before, I can handle it."

"Right."

"Do you…do you feel the same way about me?"

"You've done more than anyone else to try and get to know me," said Secter. "It scared me, for a while. But I knew it couldn't have been just curiosity, because you know…it was you. It must've been hard for you to open up and to show real interest in getting close to somebody. And that…meant a lot to me. And over time, I realized just how much it meant for you too. I guess what I'm trying to say is, is that you mean a lot to me. I smile every time I see you now, and I want you to be happy in the future. I just didn't think that happiness included me in it."

"It does," said Tatsumaki. "If you…if you do something to yourself, I'm going to be very fucking upset, ok? So don't!"

"I wasn't planning on it," said Secter. "Not…not really."

A wave of dread encompassed the tiny tornado, washing over her and blasting her apart with each powerful wave. Tatsumaki shivered in her seat, her arms crossing to try and protect herself from the cold.

"Not really?" she asked.

"I won't lie, I had considered it before," said Secter. "Not…good things. Mostly before I got here."

Tatsumaki laid a hand on her stomach. Her face was a pale swirl of sickness and despair.

"Please don't," she said. "I'll do anything. Just don't. I already almost lost Fubuki, I can't lose you too. It's just not fair."

"It's ok, I'm not planning on anything," said Secter.

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "Good." She shrunk down into Secter's pillow, with Secter frowning at the blood stains that surrounded her.

"Really…not a good spot to be," he said, gesturing to the crimson stains.

"It's fine, really," said Tatsumaki. "I'm not leaving."

"Ok Tatsu."

"You mentioned something about what happened after your siblings left. Was that connected with all this?"

"Yeah," said Secter. "Lot of stuff that's difficult for me to talk about. But I want to, it was part of the reason I called you."

"I'm here for you," she said.

. . .

"After my siblings went away," Secter started as he finished wrapping his last wound with a nearby bandage. "There wasn't much for me to do but work. Felt kind of stuck. Bored. You know the drill."

Tatsumaki nodded at him, her eyes still red from earlier.

"Well, one day, there was a massive meteorite headed for our colony. And we didn't know about it. At least, not until it exploded above our heads."

"How did you not know?"

"It moved too fast, and we didn't really have the best satellite system," said Secter. "But anyways, it would've wiped us all out if it weren't for this alien army that had shown up."

"Aliens, huh," said Tatsumaki. "We've had them around here before. Tried to blow things up, actually. But, uh, go on."

"Well, apparently that's what they did, these aliens. They went around, saving species or people who were either about to be destroyed by something, or were about to destroy themselves. They called themselves reformers, or reformists or something."

"I see."

"And apparently, they allowed people to join their groups. These aliens, Christ, they were wickedly powerful. More strong than anything I've ever seen."

"Even more than you?"

"I'm getting to that. So I, having not much to do, and being real interested in helping others out, decided to ask around. They were all too happy to let me read about them and sign up. I said goodbye to my siblings and told em I would be back one day, and left with the aliens for a while."

"What did these aliens look like?"

"Tall, shadowy beings. Black fire on their backs. Glowing yellow eyes and mouths. Kinda scary looking, but they were pretty kind for the most part."

"Never heard of em," said Tatsumaki.

"Maybe that's for the best," said Secter. "These aliens, called the Soulless in their tongue or something along those lines, trained me to be a volunteer for their forces. Their whole army was actually divided into four big factions and some smaller ones, it was kinda complicated. Turns out a lot of them were pretty angry over some incident over another planet, along with other stuff. And as it turned out, I joined at a very bad time."

"I can't believe you just joined an intergalactic space army with no future thought," said Tatsumaki. "How stupid can you be?" She froze for a second. "Sorry."

"No you're right, it was pretty stupid of me. Very stupid, in fact. But I just felt so stuck on that damn colony, with no real hope of going anywhere, and the aliens, a lot of them I made friends with, and just wow, you should've seen them use their powers and all the things they did. Constantly running around and saving people like it was nothing. Around the whole universe in fractions of a second. It was so amazing to me, I could barely even comprehend it."

"So like a universal Hero Association," said Tatsumaki.

"Kind of, and just as flawed," said Secter. "And even more complicated. Let's just say they didn't all agree when it came to how they should help other species from not endangering themselves again, and there were some not-so-kind Soulless in with the others. Some very, very nasty ones."

"Oh."

"But I joined up, stars in my eyes, and ready to help. They told me that they could make me almost as powerful as any regular alien, but it would take training to do so. Training that would more than likely kill me if I agreed to do it."

"And you did."

"I did. And I got to learn why they called themselves the Soulless too – their powers, their rules, all meant to serve others while not helping themselves. There were a lot of restrictions on using your powers, and you couldn't even use them most of the time because some rando was nullifying you before you could even do anything."

"Nullifying?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Well, when a Soulless tries to use a power, any sort of ability aside from their own regular strength and speed and such in the vicinity of a Soulless who is just as powerful, then the reacting Soulless can recognize the power before it even begins and can cancel it out with their own power. Turns out most Soulless are about equal in power, although people who volunteer usually end up being a little weaker."

"Ah," said Tatsumaki. "So, they can just stop you immediately."

"Yes. Higher ups were real afraid of lots of Soulless trying to use powers all at once, because they were too strong to contain. They implemented rules, and cadres to keep an eye on the regular troops at all times, and strict regimens and so on."

"Sounds boring."

"It kind of was. But I got to train to become like them, and let me tell you, it was fucking _grueling._ My mind was torn apart, my body nearly got disintegrated a number of times, and many people who were like me who also volunteered died. But eventually I reached a point where they told me I was ready, and then-"

"Then…"

"Well, the way they do it is kind of fucked up, to be honest. They take a Soulless who apparently is done with life, since Soulless don't age I guess they just decide at one point enough's enough, and they lay em down on a cot. Then you get placed inside a tube chamber, and you actually end up absorbing the poor bastard. I've heard it's relatively painless for the Soulless, although it nearly ended up killing me. Gave me nightmares for weeks too, and I swear I could hear that Soulless's voice at times."

"That's…kind of dark."

"Well, I imagine it's like an old man deciding it's their time to go or something. The Soulless don't age, so I guess it's up to them."

"How long ago was this?"

Secter chuckled.

"Don't worry Tatsu, I'm the age I told you before. Although, I don't actually know if I'll stay this way forever now or not. I've heard that Volunteers can allow themselves to age but can never actually die of old age. They'd just look as wrinkly as they want but could change appearance at any time so it doesn't really matter. Weird to think about."

"So you'll outlive me. Outlive everyone."

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Oh."

"I try not to think about it too much," said Secter. "But anyways, I got all the powers of the Soulless I absorbed, although apparently the reason why most Volunteers are weaker is because they can't handle the full extent of the powers and thus some just escape during the process. Would explain the weird building we were in."

"So how strong are you really?" asked Tatsumaki. "Because back when you were fighting all those monsters, you…destroyed them like they were nothing. And the sky got all weird. And I could tell, that you weren't even straining from the activity or anything. Like you were only using a fraction of your strength, if that."

"Yeaaaah," said Secter. "That was nothing. Tatsu, I'm going to be honest, those Soulless were really strong. Like, they were supposed to be able to easily handle any problem the universe had, no matter what. Well, except for each other, apparently."

"What can you do at full strength?"

"Uh," said Secter. "A lot of stuff. I mean, I try not to overuse my powers, because I only want to use em to help people out, and to be honest, a lot of Soulless shared this view. There was all kinds of shit we could do, but we knew a lot of it was dangerous or had consequences that weren't fair to people. Like, I could make the bad feelings of a person go away, for instance, and I even tried it with myself. But it just made me sick. I could never escape the fact that I had to use my powers to try and feel happy, like some kind of drug."

"Like that nasty alcohol…" she said. "You really shouldn't be drinking that stuff, it looks awful."

"Oh, it's supposed to be strong enough to get Soulless intoxicated. So don't drink it. Please. And yeah…fuck, that's kind of the same thing, eh. I tried to convince myself I wasn't the one responsible for the effects, that it was something outside me and it was fine, but it's really the same."

"I'm not going to drink it. And yeah, it sounds like it. Although…" Tatsumaki ran her other hand through her hair, her brows furrowed in focus. "How many monsters do you think you could take, out of curiosity."

"Oh, I could destroy every monster in the damn universe if I wanted to. Could destroy all kinds of shit. But I'm sure as hell not going to until it's necessary. You learn to keep these powers under control real fast, and you get used to only using them in emergencies. Bit of a slippery slope otherwise, and then people come to rely on you for being some kind of great destroyer, and then it can get to your head. And sometimes destroying everything isn't the answer. Although most of the time, back when I was with the aliens, I never even used my powers. They weren't helpful in combat either, since it takes a _lot_ of strength to even hurt a Soulless with a power, provided you can get past nullification. And if you do get past nullification, the Soulless can still weaken your powers. Plus, trying to use a power would give away your position to enemy Soulless, like they'd see the second you try to use a power as a kind of flash in their head, and they could home in on your surrounding area. Instead, we just shot and stabbed each other with Soulless weapons, the old-fashioned way."

"Combat?" asked Tatsumaki. "Where's this coming from? The training? Or…"

"No," said Secter. "This is what I was getting to."

"I had an idea of what was happening…" said Tatsumaki. "Even still, you can destroy all the monsters in the universe? How fucking strong are you?"

"I told you, the Soulless were supposed to be ready for anything. Their powers were meant as backups really, since they were more supposed to be arguing over how they were going to fix the problems of endangered species and building regimes and such. And all this arguing, all this conflict led them to war, which was what I was thrust into right after I was done absorbing that Soulless."

"Oh," said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah," said Secter. "Fuck, this is the hard part. Tatsu, I won't lie to you, I might break down a bit during this part, and if I do, well, just try not to be too worried, ok? I'll be alright."

"Have you ever told anyone else about this?"

"No, no, God no. You're the first. About the Soulless, about my colony, about the war, about anything. I, uh, I'm kind of scared to tell you, to be honest. But I think…I think it would be good for me."

Tatsumaki laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it until he looked at her. Secter's hair was crumpled over the bloody bandage on his forehead, and exhaustion had devoured his expression, his entire body slumping down into the bed. Tatsumaki slid her hand down his back, a small frown adorning her face.

"I think it would be too," she said. "And if you have trouble, I'll understand. I want you to feel better, remember?"

"I remember," said Secter. "I don't think I can express in words how much I appreciate you, Tatsu."

Tatsumaki smiled at him, warmth radiating from the depths of her soul.

"Thanks Secter," she said. "I've never felt like this before."

"It's…been a long time," said Secter. "But, I should keep going."

"Do your best."

Secter took a deep breath before continuing.

"I went into the war with some friends. We were all afraid. Didn't know what would happen. I don't think the higher-ups did either. We all left the universe, actually, like, went outside of it. Higher-ups and everybody else were worried we would do too much damage if we had an all-out war in the actual universe, so we just…left."

"You left the universe? How?"

"It's not hard for Soulless," said Secter. "Outside the universe, it's just a big white void that goes on forever. It's weird too, like either you can occupy space in it, or the void is there, but not both. So we had to construct buildings and stuff with this weird matter around it for it to even exist, but it's not really that important. Point is, we made our own battlegrounds and bases out in a place where we really shouldn't have been. We ended up getting lost and having more and more trouble finding our way back to the universe for supplies or volunteers as time went on."

"That's…strange."

"It was a strange place," said Secter. "It messed with us after a while. But we kept going, fighting and fighting endlessly over shit that didn't really matter. I learned how to shoot real fast, and lost most of my friends one way or another."

"That's horrible. I don't…"

"That's why I found your planet to be so weird, I think," said Secter. "I see fighting going on all the time here, but no one dies. It's a good thing, to be sure, but when I see someone bleeding out on the pavement here, I just expect them not to make it. It was how it was way up there when I was fighting in the war."

"It's different here, for sure," said Tatsumaki. "Very different."

"Yeah, took some getting used to," said Secter. "But, one day, I was out with a squad, and a squad leader. I….didn't like this guy. He was always violent, even by our standards. Would beat the shit out of prisoners and such, sometimes for seemingly no reason. Never liked him. But he got us out of some bad situations, so we went with him. I think he had a lot of pent-up anger. Can't say I blame him."

"Really?" asked Tatsumaki. "Fuck, how bad did it get up there?"

Secter swallowed, a ball of lukewarm gunk scraping its way down his throat.

"Very," he croaked. "Very. Very. I, uh, this is the real hard part, Tatsu."

"I'm here for you."

She rubbed his back, as if to wipe away his pain through touch alone. Secter's expression showed otherwise.

"I did a horrible thing," said Secter. "A terrible, terrible thing."

Tatsumaki's hand stopped in place. Warmth turned to fear, icy cold in her heart.

"What…what did you do?" she asked.

"We were pinned, Tatsu. We came up on a building, looked like a typical medical center. Had to have been, they had signs, I think. But for some reason, troops began to pour out of it, firing at me and my team. We got stuck, blasts coming in from all around. Our commander was barking at us, but I was too afraid to hear. Then, one of our own points out this abandoned artillery gun not far from where we were. We manage to take cover around it, and the commander orders us to pull it towards where the troops were coming out of."

"Oh," said Tatsumaki. Dread seeped over her like a shadow, a specter of quivering nausea choking her insides.

"We were shocked," said Secter. "Shocked that he wanted to fire on a fucking hospital. But I rationalized it. There were too many guards for a hospital, maybe it had been changed to a barracks or something by now? We had seen stuff like that before. But there were too many coming at us, and our people started to fall…"

Tatsumaki said nothing, only staring at Secter in awe. She kept her hand firmly on his side, clenching a little.

"Then the commander pointed at me. He wanted me to use the thing. It didn't need to be loaded, it was all ready. Everyone was dying. I couldn't even tell where I was. I thought I was dead until the commander grabbed me."

"It's…ok," said Tatsumaki. But she could tell not a word of hers even registered for Secter.

"He yelled at me, and yelled. I don't know how we didn't get shot just yelling up there. But he told me that I had to fire, or else we'd all die. Most of us were dead or dying by that point. And…I didn't want to. But I had to. And I had orders to. I had to."

"You…" Tatsumaki began, but she shut herself up quick.

"And I fired the thing. Blew the whole damn building apart, and a bunch of them along with it. I fired it until they scattered away, must've been twice, I think. I don't know, everything felt so rushed, like a nightmare. I just acted on instinct, and then it was over. We gathered ourselves, and went over the place, now that the shooting had stopped."

"You did what you had to," said Tatsumaki. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"But it was still a hospital, Tatsu," said Secter. "There were beds and everything. And injured people, who still had bandages on, dead in the rubble. I don't know why there were so many guards, it was way more than usual, I thought it was just a barracks. But there were medics in there too, all dead. I fell to the ground and broke down there, wouldn't move for a while. Commander and the others dragged me back, he was all complaining about how I'd become dead weight."

"That's horrible," said Tatsumaki. "That's not fair. He could've fired that thing, but he made you do it! Because he was afraid…"

"But I was the one who did it," said Secter. "I didn't have to do it, but if I didn't, we would've died. But…maybe we should've."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "This was war, things like this happen." In truth, she had no idea.

"That's what they told me when we made it back," said Secter. "Bunch of people talked about all the horrible stuff they did or had to do, but it didn't make me feel better. All my friends, all those I looked up to, were now talking about executing prisoners or burning people alive or something. They weren't…happy about it, but it was getting more normal for them. I wanted to die right then and there."

Secter groaned, sinking into his bed. He crossed his arms over himself, as if he were in the midst of a freezing tundra, his voice going out to the icy winds and hearing nothing but cold howls back.

"I did that," said Secter. "I pulled the trigger, at the end of the day. I relive that moment almost every day. When that thing comes to cut me up, I can hear their screams from it. I deserve something like that. For as long as I live."

Tatsumaki felt as if her mind had shut itself off to shield her from what she was hearing. This felt wrong, in so many ways. Taking a deep breath, she slowly began to stroke Secter's back again, each movement of her hand a colossal effort of fingers being pushed along fabric.

"That's…" said Tatsumaki. "This is all…hard for me to think about. I've seen lots of stuff get destroyed, and even people die, but not like this. It was always day versus night here, us versus monsters."

"We were all monsters," said Secter. "Me especially."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "You're suffering for this. Suffering badly. You never wanted to do what you did, but you were forced to. You didn't have a choice. You wouldn't be here if you hadn't done what you did, and you didn't even know if there were medics in that building."

"But I knew it was a hospital," said Secter. "There were signs."

"But it was filled with armed troops," said Tatsumaki. "Which like you said, was strange. It makes sense you thought they converted it to a fort."

"Maybe," said Secter. "And…I don't think I killed them all. I think some got away. But still."

"War does horrible things to people…" said Tatsumaki. "But you did what you had to, you had no choice."

"I try to tell myself that everyday," said Secter. "It doesn't work."

"You feel guilty. And what did you say about a thing coming to cut you?"

"It's a creature," said Secter. "Awful looking thing. When I dwell too much on things, when I feel as if I am the scum of the earth, it likes to come and remind me I'm right. Slices me, like you see here." Secter pointed to his forehead. "Oddly enough, other Volunteers and Soulless talked about stuff like this back when I was with them. Maybe…maybe it's just something that they have. A problem for all of us. Except I probably deserve it."

"How often does this thing attack you?" asked Tatsumaki.

"A lot," said Secter. "Sometimes as often as a couple times a week, sometimes I can go months without having it appear. And it never kills me, obviously. It sometimes brings me to the brink of death, like you saw last time, but it never finishes the job."

"So you were dying," said Tatsumaki. "You were hiding all this. Oh my God. Secter, I…I want to make this stop. You're suffering, you can't live like this! You can't have this thing attack you every fucking week!"

"I know," said Secter. He sniffed, scalding tears streaming from his eyes. "I know. I've known for a while. I know it comes from me, is a part of me, or how I feel. Maybe I could make it go away, but I don't know how."

"Well, for starters, you don't deserve to have it attack you," said Tatsumaki. She grabbed Secter by the shoulders, pulling his face close to hers. "Do you understand me, Secter? It's not your fault. It's right that you should feel bad, but at the end of the day, you had no choice. Anyone else would've done the same in your position. I…I would've too."

"You would?"

"If my life and all my friends were at risk, I would've pulled the trigger," said Tatsumaki. "Especially if I was like you and didn't really think it was a hospital."

"I think I was just trying to rationalize it," said Secter. "But it made sense at the time. Even still, thanks Tatsu. I can't believe…I can't believe I actually told someone. I never thought I would see the day."

"Well, I'm glad you told me," said Tatsumaki. "Even though it was hard for me to hear, even though…it was something that I've never known. This whole world must look really strange to you, doesn't it?"

"A little," said Secter. "But I know where I came from, and I understand why that separates me."

"We're not so different," said Tatsumaki. "You and I. We both felt alone, but for different reasons. Wouldn't let people get close. And I…well, not now, but some day I want to talk to you about something. There's something I've been meaning to do, and I want you to come with me. Because I don't know if I could do it alone."

"If you need me, I'll be there," said Secter.

"I know you would," said Tatsumaki. "That's why I like you so much."

Secter managed a weak smile, but pulled away from the esper back to his original position.

"That was the hardest part," he said. "I stayed for a while longer, but the war was devolving into chaos, into savagery. No more communications, no more higher-ups as time went on. We lost more and more ships, and some friends of mine gathered together and told me that we needed to leave and head back to the universe or else we would be stuck up there forever. I told them that I wasn't leaving, that I deserved to go to jail, or be killed or something, and they all just got unnerved and confused. Apparently the Soulless didn't have crimes like that, which I guess makes sense since they never had a full-scale war before. But they told me that if they were to try people like me, then they too would be going to rot in a jail for God knows how long. That everyone would be, more than likely. Just…ugh, it was a giant fucking mess, Tatsu."

"It…sounds like it," said Tatsumaki. "Everyone was doing terrible things."

"More or less," said Secter. "But we managed to get out of there, and I felt like a complete failure. I didn't feel like I had helped anyone, no matter how many times I tried to. I went back home, my friends scattering to the winds, and my siblings and parents were still there. My brother and sister were glad to see me, my parents barely so much as acknowledged my existence. I went back to work pretty quick, rarely talking or going out. My siblings, they knew something was wrong, and they tried to cheer me up. Took me out to a nice place, we all got caught up on things. Of course, I had to sugarcoat the war. They knew it had happened, but not much else. I…had a lot of trouble talking about it, so they didn't press me. They never knew about what I did. I didn't want them to know, to see that side of me. I…didn't want you to know. To see me like you do now."

"I still want to be with you," said Tatsumaki. "I don't see you different, really, just hurting more than I thought. I don't like that. I'll do anything to change it."

"You and me both," said Secter. "Maybe we can figure it out, together, like you said."

"Like you told me before," said Tatsumaki. "Learning from mistakes and fixing them, or something like that."

"Close enough," said Secter. "There's just one more thing."

Tatsumaki leaned forward, apprehensive.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I worked there on the colony for a while," said Secter. "Thought the war was over, at least for me. But then one day, my boss walks over to me, and he's pale in the face. I mean, he looks like he's about to puke, and he's shaking all over. He points to outside and tells me that someone was there for me. That they had someone important."

 _Oh no,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Is this-_

"I went out there, and there was a group of them. Soulless. Led by some Soulless in an officer's overcoat. They had my siblings, and my parents, tied up, and on the ground. All of them had guns, and they made me get on the ground too. Tied me up as well."

"I don't like this," said Tatsumaki. "Just…keep going, if you can."

"They had us all," said Secter. "And the one in the overcoat told me he was going around and punishing those who should've been punished. I told him to leave my family alone, that they weren't involved, and to take me instead. He told me that wasn't how pain works."

Secter let out a long sigh, his eyes squeezing shut.

"He must've known," said Secter. "Don't know how, but he must've. Maybe he had friends there, maybe he was there. I told him that if he wanted to make me suffer, he should scar me or torture me. I told him that I was under orders, and that both I and my commander should suffer. He agreed with me, but told me that my commander was long gone by now. That there was only me. Then they killed my sister."

Tatsumaki let out a small gasp. Part of her felt as if it had withered away, a piece of her life turning black and wilted.

"They shot her," said Secter. "Hers was quick. My brother was next, and they let him plead for a while. I begged with them, and I could see, one of the killers looked apprehensive. I spoke out to him, and he froze, and the officer yelled at him to keep going or else he'd suffer too. Then he fell back into line."

Tatsumaki nodded. Her face was clammy and cold.

"They shot my brother next, in the neck so he would choke out. Then came my mother, until it was just my dad and I. And as they drew near him to shoot, I will never forget what he said to me. He asked me, why were you too slow, son? Why did you fail us?"

Secter's face scrunched in pain, as if someone were twisting a knife into his back. His face looked even more sickly than before.

"Then he was shot too," he said. "The officer was satisfied with all this, and they left me there, tied up, and on the ground. I don't even know if I was crying, I just felt dead. Like I had been shot with everyone else. I wished I had been. But I lie there, unable to move. Felt like hours until my boss showed up with a couple policemen. They asked about what happened, and I told them it was a gang I used to be involved with or something, I don't really remember. In any case, I couldn't stay on that fucking colony, so I left."

"And you came here," said Tatsumaki, her voice weak. "Secter, I'm so sorry…"

"I went to a few different planets before deciding to go to my real home," said Secter. "I…wanted to live up to my original promise. I still had all those powers, I felt like I couldn't let all my friends, all my family down by giving up on helping people. Things didn't always go so great though. To be honest, I was kind of at the end of my rope when I got here. Until I met you."

"You had all this happen," said Tatsumaki. "I had no idea. You hid it…so well."

"I got used to hiding it," said Secter. "But it made it more and more painful. Bubbling under the surface, but I could never let it out. Who the hell would care anyways? Who would deserve to be subjected to all that crap? But then you came along, and started to change things for me. Even as I wanted to help you, you kept trying to get to know me. Even though I wasn't like you, I think you could tell something was wrong. And the fact that you wanted to help, even though you were so used to pushing people away…meant the world to me. You were stepping way outside your comfort zone, all to make me feel better. That…I think that saved me, to be honest."

"Because you're worth it," said Tatsumaki. "Come here."

"Huh?"

Tatsumaki stretched her arms out, and charged into Secter, colliding with his ribcage. Secter let out an "oof" as Tatsumaki wrapped her arms around him. He sat in place for a second before doing the same. Tatsumaki sighed as she felt Secter's hands slide around her back.

"I'm so glad you shared this all with me, Secter," she said. "That you felt comfortable enough to share."

"It…it was hard, but I feel…almost relieved," said Secter. "Like a mountain off my shoulders. Someone else knows."

"And cares," said Tatsumaki. "Cares about you. So much." She hugged him tighter, her fingers gripping into the backside of his shirt. "Want you to be happy. Want to make all this right. Don't think for a second that I don't want to help you."

"I won't," said Secter. "We're in this together now."

"Yes," said Tatsumaki. "We're…I don't even know what to call us now."

"We're together," said Secter. "That's all that matters for now."

The two of them held each other until the bandage on Secter's head began to feel heavy, and they separated to allow him to replace it. The wound had already healed to the point where it was only drizzling blood now, and Secter nodded at its progress. He walked off into the kitchen and brought back a small journal which he fetched from a drawer, and he collapsed back into bed as Tatsumaki finished replacing the sheets. She laid down at his side and looked at the photos that Secter flipped through, images of smiling soldiers and posing people in places far away.

"These were mostly pre-war," said Secter. "Found it hard to write or take pictures during it. Lot of my old friends were in here. Real good people, saved my ass plenty of times. Just…caught up in a real bad situation."

Tatsumaki leaned her head on Secter's shoulder, gazing at the photo collection before her. The two of them talked through the night, eventually falling asleep only hours before the sun rose. The still-open journal remained on the both of them, half of it resting on Secter's leg while the other laid on Tatsumaki's.


	7. Chapter 7

"Your head looks much better," said Tatsumaki, as Secter admired himself in a department store mirror. "Might not even be a scar or anything."

"Told you I heal well," said Secter. "Still think we should've just stayed indoors for the day."

"I wanted to, but there's some things I have to get," said Tatsumaki. "You know, like _food._ "

"Psssht," said Secter, waving her off. "It's called delivery, Tatsu."

"Alright, maybe later then," said Tatsumaki.

"Your sister swinging around anytime soon?" asked Secter.

"No, why?" Tatsumaki eyed Secter, a mask of suspicion replacing her once jovial yet tired expression.

"Just wondering," said Secter.

"Right," said Tatsumaki. "Has she…been telling you anything?"

"Uh, like what?"

"Anything about me."

"Nothing important."

"Don't lie to me. I can tell when you're lying."

"Oh my fucking God," said Secter. "No you can't."

"I can." Tatsumaki smirked something devious.

"Look," said Secter. "All she said is that she thought you might've been into me."

"Oh," said Tatsumaki. "That's not really her business."

"It's kinda her business."

"But it's not!"

"It kinda is."

"Ugh, just help me pick out some clothes," said Tatsumaki. She held up a blue shirt adorned with light pink floral patterns. Eying herself up and down, she gave a little smile to her image in the mirror.

"What do you think, Secter?" asked Tatsumaki. She turned towards him, watching him scowl as he rummaged through pairs of discounted jeans. "Hey, Secter."

"Hmm?" asked Secter. He looked up from his investigation of the racks of pants to see Tatsumaki holding a shirt at chest level. Smiling at her, he crossed his arms. "I think that would look real good on you, Tatsu."

"You think so?" asked Tatsumaki, swiveling back to the mirror. "I really like it. Good quality for a store like this." She turned her hips from side to side to gaze at every angle. "I like it."

"Then you should get it," said Secter. "You look good."

"I always look good," said Tatsumaki.

"This is true."

Tatsumaki smiled as she folded the shirt up.

"Are you getting anything?" she asked. Tatsumaki turned back towards Secter, who was holding a grey sport coat with a black shirt underneath in front of him. He did the same as Tatsumaki, turning and admiring himself in a nearby mirror. Stroking his chin, he looked over at Tatsumaki, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"Lookin sharp, eh?" he asked. "God knows I can't afford this, but even still." He smirked back at the mirror, never taking his hand off his chin. "Looks real nice."

"You like it, huh," said Tatsumaki. "Looks good on you."

"Doesn't it?"

"It does," said Tatsumaki. "Hey, if you like it, I'll buy it for you."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," said Secter. He started to fold the coat underneath his arm to put it back, but Tatsumaki yanked it out from under his grasp, adding it to the pile she was collecting in her arms.

"Come on, let's get going," she said. "If you're done, that is."

"Alright, alright," he said. "If you insist."

The two of them made their way to the register, with Secter gawking at the receipt as it printed. Tatsumaki paid it no mind and stuffed it in her bag along with the rest of the clothes, and they left the store, heading back home through biting cold air.

"How much money do you have, exactly?" asked Secter. "I mean, you did have a nice-ass house and everything, but…"

"Enough," said Tatsumaki. "Enough for this to be nothing."

"Ah," said Secter. "Must be nice."

"It's ok. Don't usually spend that much anyways. Actually, you were probably my biggest expense this month aside from food and all that."

"Oh, because of the gift and everything."

"Yes, but that was all worth it."

"It was nice of you," said Secter. The muddied rooftop of his home came into view, leaves blowing alongside the windows and sticking to their frames.

"I'm kind of surprised you don't mind being seen in public with me," said Secter. "People might say stuff."

"It's fine," said Tatsumaki. "I don't care anymore. I've learned to not worry about all that anyways. You didn't seem to care being seen with me, and I don't mind people seeing me walking around with you."

"I'm completely fine being seen with you," said Secter. "There's no reason for me not to be."

"There's…some reasons."

"Like what?"

"Nothing. Let's just go inside."

Secter squinted at his companion, watching as Tatsumaki's eyes darted over to him before flickering back to the house in front of them.

"To be honest, I still have some questions about your powers and such," said Tatsumaki.

"That's…fair," said Secter. "But I won't lie, Tatsu, a lot of it might not make sense to you. It didn't make sense to me when I first learned about the Soulless and how they restrict themselves, it took time and training for me to start to understand. Even then, a lot of Soulless said that Volunteers were more dangerous because they had the minds of humans or something and were thus more willing to use their powers for frivolous stuff."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, making stuff appear and such I guess? That was always the first thing I heard about. There was a Volunteer who actually managed to get someplace where he was out of the range of any nullifiers, and he, I kid you not, made a pizza appear using his powers. Seconds later, the officials were chewing him out so hard he started to cry. They didn't let up until he talked about how hungry he was since his base didn't have much food around because it was mostly Soulless there and they don't eat. Usually anyways."

"That's dumb," said Tatsumaki. "All he did was materialize a pizza, right?"

"Yep," said Secter, his hand reaching for his doorknob. "Slippery slope though Tatsu. That same guy could've obliterated a planet or something in the same amount of time, and if he were out of the range of any other Soulless or Volunteers…it would've been a mess. You kind of get why the officials were so afraid of their own people?"

"I guess, but would anyone actually do that?"

"I like to think not," said Secter. "But…like I said, there were some not so great Soulless and Volunteers too. Just like regular people, you had some good ones, some bad ones, and many in-between. And then after the war, there were some real bad ones."

"Not you."

"I guess."

"Not you."

Secter sighed as he entered his home, Tatsumaki close behind. She shut the door behind her, and set the bag of clothes down on Secter's kitchen table.

"There were those far worse than me," said Secter. "Don't really want to talk about them. They don't deserve mentioning. Although I guess you already heard about one."

"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "If I ever met that bastard…"

"No," said Secter. "I hope to God you don't. That guy is more than likely dead, but I hope you never meet anyone like him. Way too dangerous."

"Where are most of the Soulless now then?"

Secter gazed up at the ceiling, his eyes forlorn and arms straight at his sides.

"Still up there, I imagine," he said. "Haven't come back."

"Oh."

"Don't know what the hell is happening up there," he said. "Have no intention of going back."

"No, you stay here," said Tatsumaki. "People need you here."

"Like who?"

"Like me, idiot."

"Oh," said Secter. He chuckled softly. "Right. You sure you _need_ me though?"

"Yes!" said Tatsumaki. "You're like my tether, Secter. I was drifting off, too far away, and you brought me back. If…if that makes sense."

"I wouldn't want you to get lost," said Secter. "Much less get disconnected with everyone. Was that what you got worried about, all that time ago?"

"I guess," said Tatsumaki. "I was first worried that I'd lose my sister. And get angrier and more alone as a result. Then I was afraid I'd lose you, the only person who has really made an effort to get to know me as a person and make me happy. That scared me, I was already afraid. But that really scared me."

"Didn't mean to. I just wanted to share…"

"And I'm glad you did, really. It looked like it was really relieving for you, even if it was really hard. But like you said before, it's going to take some time. For both of us, I think. To really reconcile all this with each other."

"Yeah, yeah it will," said Secter. "But I'm glad I have somebody."

"Me too," said Tatsumaki. She walked over to the counter, leaning against the marble top. "You want to get some food?"

"Pizza sounds nice," said Secter.

Secter placed the order, and the duo read and talked on the couch while they waited. Tatsumaki turned on the tv at some point, and told Secter about all her favorite shows, none of which were familiar to him. At one point, an advert for the Hero Association came on, and Tatsumaki sneered at the shining building depicted on the screen.

"Can't believe people still think you're trying to undermine them," said Tatsumaki.

"Haven't been bothered about it in a while, I think most people have moved on," said Secter.

"Even still, that was really stupid."

"Hey, even you kinda believed it for a little bit."

"Yeah well…I was kinda stupid."

"Ahh, we all make mistakes," said Secter. "But you're right, you were kinda stupid."

Tatsumaki elbowed Secter, her eyes gleaming with irritation.

"Don't rub it in, asshole," she said.

"I'm not, I'm just saying that mistakes were made," said Secter, his hands held up in defeat. "Like all those times you tried to kill me."

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. "Yes, I know. But I've become better, ok? I've…moved on."

"You definitely have," said Secter. "We've both gotten better, I think."

"You still haven't gotten better at cleaning things," said Tatsumaki, looking all around the room. "Just so you know."

Secter rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, but it's my house," said Secter. "It's gonna be how it's gonna be."

Tatsumaki was shaking her head, incredulous.

"A mess," she said. "It doesn't have to be a mess."

"It's fiiiine."

A soft ringing at the door signaled the arrival of their meal, and Secter got up to answer. Once the food was retrieved and placed at the table, Tatsumaki rose and grabbed a steaming slice for herself. The two of them sat back down on the couch, eating and watching tv together.

"This is nice," said Tatsumaki. "We should do stuff like this more often."

"Definitely," said Secter. "We should go to this new place I heard about, apparently they have great sandwiches and coffee and really good pastries too."

"So you mean like a date?" asked Tatsumaki, glancing over at him.

"Uh," said Secter. His entire face burned red, and he munched on a piece of pizza, his tongue reeling from the scalding heat. "I…"

"You're getting all flustered," said Tatsumaki. She smiled at him, before snickering. Wiping away some crumbs from her mouth, she pointed at Secter and poked him in the arm. "I can tell, you're getting all red."

Secter scowled at no one in particular, continuing to eat his food while silently pleading for the embarrassment to go away. His face didn't stop burning, instead only becoming warmer under Tatsumaki's gaze.

"It's cute," said Tatsumaki. "To see you like this. All embarrassed and such."

"Fine, fine, I guess it would be then," said Secter. "A date, I mean."

"I accept," blurted Tatsumaki. "When do you want to go?"

"Uh," said Secter. "Tomorrow, I guess? I mean, we could go for lunch…"

"Sounds good," said Tatsumaki. "I'll wear something nice. Maybe you could wear that coat I bought you."

"Woah, it's not that formal a place," said Secter. "I'm not wearing my coat to eat sandwiches. That's for special occasions."

"Is this not a special occasion?"

"Alright, you got me there, but you know what I mean. We don't have to dress up to go out for lunch. Unless you want to, that is."

"No it's fine," said Tatsumaki. "Wear what you want, I guess." Hints of disappointment layered her voice.

"Hey, don't sound so bummed," said Secter. "It'll be nice, real good food. Just didn't know if you wanted someplace fancier or not."

"No that's fine," said Tatsumaki. "Really. I think we'll have a good time there."

"Out of curiosity, when's the last time you've been on a date, Tatsu?"

"Never."

"Oh."

"Please don't make fun of me." She sunk into her seat, arms crossed over her chest.

"I wasn't going to, Tatsu. Never crossed my mind."

"I kinda figured you wouldn't, just wanted you to know."

"It's been a while for me, honestly," said Secter. "Not since I was back on the colony, before I left to join up."

"Was she pretty?" asked Tatsumaki.

"She was," said Secter. "And nice. But also manipulative, as I found out. Taught me some important lessons when I was young."

"Huh," said Tatsumaki. "Do you…do you not think it's weird that I'm twenty-nine and have never gone on a date?"

"Well…no, not really. Some people hold off on it until they really think they've found someone special, others just aren't interested in dating. I've met people who didn't really date until they were much older."

"Yeah but…I kinda wanted to sometimes."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Just never asked. Always reasoned my way out of it."

"Well, now you've got me asking."

"The answer's yes, a hundred times yes," said Tatsumaki. "I wasn't really saving up for someone special, but you do fit that description. I like you way more than anyone else I've ever liked."

"What can I say, I'm a likeable guy," said Secter.

Tatsumaki shook her head.

"That's the old Secter I know," said Tatsumaki. "Fucking goof."

Secter cheesed at her before finishing his last slice. The couch withered around him as he sank into it.

"I'm so glad I met you Tatsu," he said.

Tatsumaki leaned into Secter, her head resting on his shoulder. She wrapped an arm around his chest, and Secter followed suit by sliding an arm around her back.

"I'm glad I met you too," she said. "Don't know where I'd be otherwise."

"Me neither."

The television droned on and on while the two of them watched, and Tatsumaki found herself sinking closer to the man beside her. Secter held her close, and they stayed like that until the sun went down.

. . .

Secter rose from his place in the couch, casting a brief glance towards the bathroom door where Tatsumaki had wandered off to. Small slivers of light emanated from the side of the entrance, with the door slightly ajar. Secter raised an eyebrow at the sight, before heading over to the sink. He grabbed the empty pizza box from the countertop and tossed it over by the trash can to be recycled later. Humming to himself as he washed his hands, Secter dried them off over by the oven and started to make his way over to the couch, when he heard the door creak behind him. Secter spun around, but no one was there. Confused, he walked over near the doorframe.

"Tatsu?" he asked. "You ok in there?"

No answer. Secter frowned and took another step forward. The light still being on, he looked inside.

Across from him stood Tatsumaki, wearing a pair of pants she had picked out from the store and a bra but nothing else. Secter froze at the spot, shocked.

"Oh, shit," he said. "Sorry about that." He spun away, rubbing his forehead.

"Wait," said Tatsumaki. "It's fine, come back."

Secter stopped, turning back towards the light.

"You sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure."

He exhaled, unsure of what awaited him ahead. Striding back into the bathroom, he found Tatsumaki in the same spot, and wearing the same amount of clothing as before. She wrapped herself in her arms, eying herself up and down in the mirror.

"Close the door behind you," she said.

"Uh, there's no one else here," said Secter.

"Just do it, please," said Tatsumaki.

Secter did as she asked and sat on the rim of the bathtub behind her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Tatsumaki's eyes were distant, her frame trapped in time. Not a single muscle moved for a few seconds until she started to rub her hands up and down her sides, moving her hips from right to left as if checking out some invisible piece of clothing.

"I don't really like how I look," she said.

 _Oh,_ thought Secter. _So Fubuki was right._

"You…" said Secter. "Your body?"

"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "Never have. I don't know why I grew this way, or I guess failed to grow, but I never liked it."

"Tatsu…"

"It's not as if I didn't try to make myself grow bigger," said Tatsumaki. "Exercise, all kinds of stuff."

"The milk."

"Yeah. That too. But nothing really worked."

"You look good to me."

Tatsumaki sighed, letting her arms fall away from her. Shoulders sagging, she leaned forward onto the grey countertop which held the sink. She gave a small smile to the mirror so that Secter might see it, but soon a cloud of grey washed over her eyes and her expression went dark.

"I figured it was the one thing my sister had over me," said Tatsumaki. "I had all the powers, she got all the looks. I always kinda hated her for that, I think it fed into me wanting to feel superior. Made me put her down, make her feel like she had to strive to be like me instead of vice versa."

"That…would make sense. But you shouldn't begrudge her for that."

"I know, I know. But other people made it worse. They'd say, well they'd never say it to my face obviously. But they'd say stuff behind my backs, like how I looked like an imp, or wondering what stunted my growth, or even call me a midget or say that only a creep would like somebody like me."

"What?" asked Secter. "Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Bunch of assholes."

"They didn't care how I felt if I heard those things, since I was always the distant one, the mean one."

"I don't think they intended for you to hear."

"Yeah, because they were afraid. But I heard, I knew. I knew they wanted to hurt me, make me feel bad. Maybe even take advantage of me somehow, I don't know. But it didn't help, just made me angrier. I hate it when people call me shit like that, even if it's true."

"Regardless of whether you are short or not, people shouldn't be saying shit like that," said Secter. "I've met a lot of women like you actually, who are just short. Were like that when they were young, stayed that way even as they got older. It's just how some people are. Some people see that as different, and will mock you for it because they don't understand or think it's harmless. Those people are in the wrong, and if it hurts you, then they need to be shown that they should act otherwise."

"It's not just short though," said Tatsumaki. "I just look… _wrong_."

"According to who? You?"

"I…I guess. But everyone knows."

"No," said Secter. "You think everyone thinks that. I don't. I think you look just fine. Real nice, in fact. Actually, I thought you were kind of pretty when I first met you, at least until you tossed me into space. Then I was a bit more cautious. Still think you're pretty though."

Tatsumaki forced back a tiny smile, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"I taught you a lesson, didn't I," she said. "I wasn't to be messed with."

"I guess you did," said Secter.

 _Although to be honest, I could've easily stopped the whole thing, just wanted to scare some sense in you at the time,_ he thought.

"But I don't believe you look wrong, and neither does anyone else," said Secter. "Being short isn't wrong. Being slim isn't wrong either, or small, or petite, or whatever it is. Making fun of someone for having those attributes to make them feel bad is."

"I ignore them anyways," said Tatsumaki. "But even still…you don't know about any of this. Look at you, I bet you never got your appearance made fun of in your life."

"Well, not exactly, not that I can remember," said Secter. He shifted on the rim of the bathtub, increasingly uncomfortable with his position. "But I know what it's like to be called something you don't want to be thought of by people you wanted to be close to you."

"Your…your parents?"

"Yeah, but they weren't always so dismissive. Actually, they sent me a letter while I was off at the front, telling me how they actually did miss me and wanted me to come home. Wish I kept that fucking letter to be honest."

"Why did you get rid of it?"

"I was in a bad place, and I didn't believe the letter at the time. I thought it had to have been faked, written by some asshole to torture me for making such bad decisions. And who knows, maybe it was. But I don't think that was the case. It was stupid of me to have thrown it out."

"You should've kept it. With the journal."

"I know, I know. But it's gone now."

Tatsumaki sighed and righted herself back into a standing position. Placing her hands on her hips, she frowned at the frail figure in the mirror.

"I guess I'm just stuck like this, aren't I," she said.

"I guess so," said Secter. "But that's not a bad thing. I like you for who you are. Anybody who's worth your time won't think of you in the ways you talked about. Just because you're small doesn't mean you don't deserve to be happy."

"Thanks, Secter. But even still, it's been twenty-nine years. Twenty-nine years and I still get confused for a child sometimes."

"Really?" asked Secter. "I mean, I took you for younger when we first met, but I didn't think you were a child." He shifted uncomfortably in his spot again.

 _Not in appearance, anyways,_ thought Secter.

"Maybe," she said. "But I still hate it. I really, really hate it. I want to look better, more like my sister. More like a fucking adult, for God's sakes."

Secter scratched at his neck, the skin turning red underneath his fingers.

"I guess…I just didn't think about it in that way," said Secter. "You looked fine to me, I had met people that looked like you before and never thought ill of them. I really don't like that people are doing stuff like this to you though Tatsu."

"I wasn't the nicest person," said Tatsumaki. "Maybe I deserved some of it."

"No," said Secter. "It's true you weren't really the kindest back then, but that doesn't mean you deserved to be hurt. I think…I think that it didn't help anything, that it just emboldened you to push other people away. You don't have to listen to them Tatsu, they're wrong about you in every way."

"I'm glad to hear you think that," said Tatsumaki, her expression still sullen. "I just still wish I could change…"

"You want to look different for you."

"I mean, yeah. Maybe for you too, but I guess you're ok with me."

"I am. And if you want to look different, that's fine, I just don't know how you'd be able to change something like that. You…might not be able to."

Tatsumaki groaned. Her entire body shuddered, before she fell back onto the bathtub, plopping down besides Secter. Secter outstretched an arm to keep her from falling back into the tub but recoiled as Tatsumaki kept her balance.

"I know, I'm probably stuck like this forever," said Tatsumaki. "I'll just have to get used to it."

"I hope you learn to like yourself as much as I like you," said Secter. "I really want you to like yourself, you deserve to be liked."

Tatsumaki nudged him, her hair falling in front of her eyes as she moved. Secter caught a glimpse of a smile as she shouldered him.

"Stop it," she said. "You're being all corny and stuff now."

"No, I mean it," said Secter. "You really do deserve it. And I really, really want you to like yourself and how you look, because I do too. You shouldn't put yourself down for something you have no control over, and it's not a problem in the first place."

"Mmm," said Tatsumaki.

Secter wrapped his arm around her back, his hand finding Tatsumaki's left arm. He pulled in her closer and leaned his head alongside hers. His left hand ran up and down her left arm, and Tatsumaki let out a little sigh as she leaned into him.

"I like our talks," she said. "There's so much we talked about. So much we've let out."

"Yeah," said Secter. "They've been a bit messy, but they're good. I feel better having talked about all this."

"Me too."

"Uh, by the way, there was one thing I wanted to ask."

"What's that?"

"Did you wear that dress because you thought, you know, it showed off the most adult part of you?"

"What do you mean?"

Secter swallowed. Feeling as if he were entering an imaginary minefield, he did his best to pick his words with caution.

"You know, the dress you wore for fighting and all that. Tended to show off your legs, I think."

"You think?"

"Look, I noticed," said Secter, his face starting to grow hot again. "At the time, I just thought it was kind of odd, but after a while I started to think that maybe you thought it was your most adult feature."

"I mean, I just liked the dress."

"Oh," said Secter. "Ok then, forget I said it."

"But I don't think you're totally wrong. I was told by people that I had nice legs for looking so young. At least for a little while."

"Right," said Secter.

"They are nice, aren't they," said Tatsumaki, lifting one of her legs and eying it up and down.

"I mean, yeah," said Secter. "All of you is."

"Really?" asked Tatsumaki. She looked over at him, her blinks heavy and slow. "What else do you like?"

Secter ceased the rubbing of her arm, locking himself in place. He pleaded silently to God that his face would stop flushing, but the deity seemed to be out for lunch today.

"Well," said Secter. "Uh, there's not much I dislike."

"Can you think of anything specific?"

"Ah Christ, I'm not that good at this sort of thing," said Secter. "But one thing I liked, and I know it seems kind of obvious, but you have the best smile I think I've ever seen."

"Hmm?" asked Tatsumaki, confusion plaguing her eyes.

"You don't do it often, and it's kind of small, but it has a lot of meaning behind it whenever you do. I feel like every time you smile at me, you mean something from the bottom of your heart. It's rare, but it feels amazing every time."

"That's so dumb," said Tatsumaki. As she said this, the biggest grin Secter had ever seen her create spread across her face, and she laughed, wiping away light green tufts of hair as she did so. "That's…that's…so sweet. You're…" She shook her head.

Tatsumaki looked back up at Secter, her face beaming and her eyes shining brighter than the light across from them. Secter stared back, lost to time in her gaze.

"You're really something," she said. "I don't know how to describe you, because when I see you now, everything just becomes kinda irrelevant for me until I know how you're doing. I think I want to spend a lot more time with you Secter…maybe a very long time with you…"

"You…" said Secter.

"What you said wasn't dumb, you know what I mean, you know how I get. That was very sweet of you. And you make me feel all warm inside, no one's ever made me feel like you have."

"Hey," said Secter. "I aim to please."

Tatsumaki leaned in close, her breath flowing hot and heavy over Secter's cheek. Secter couldn't move an inch.

"You do more than that," she said. Tatsumaki's voice was soft, words rolling over Secter's face like a wave of water. "You do so much more."

"I, uh," said Secter.

Tatsumaki inched closer, craning her neck until she was but centimeters away from Secter's face. She laid a hand on his chest to steady herself, and Secter watched her breathe, each more laborious and heavy than the last. As Tatsumaki began to swing her other arm around his back, Secter jolted back into reality.

"I…need to get a drink," he said.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Be right back," said Secter. Bolting from his seat, he left a bewildered Tatsumaki sitting on the side of his bathtub. He shuffled over to the kitchen, taking a glass from a cupboard and doing his best not to turn back at Tatsumaki, who was surely watching him. With his glass full, he took a swig and looked over at the bathroom. In the middle of the entrance stood Tatsumaki, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Secter frowned and set the glass on the counter.

"I realize I kinda ruined things there," said Secter. "Just…got a bit too nervous I suppose."

"That's ok," said Tatsumaki. "But did you not expect that to go anywhere?"

"Well, when you started asking me what I liked about you, and started giving me those looks, I figured something would happen. But I uh, it's not that I didn't want to, but I guess I was just surprised that you were willing to go there. What you wanted to do, and with me, of all people."

"I only like you," said Tatsumaki. "I only want you."

"And I feel the same for you," said Secter. "Sorry about what just happened."

"It's ok," said Tatsumaki. "Honestly, I thought you were going to take things further than I was willing for a sec, then I remembered how flustered you got earlier and how nervous you looked then."

"Take things further how?" asked Secter. "I wouldn't-"

"Well, I wasn't exactly wearing a lot of clothing," said Tatsumaki. "Had you, you know, started to do something with that, I might've gotten nervous."

"Oh, no," said Secter. "That's…that's uh, that's for later."

Tatsumaki smirked at him.

"For later," she said.

 _My God,_ thought Secter. _I didn't know she even had this in her. Where is this coming from?_

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Yes," said Secter. He took another drink, his knuckles turning white as he clenched the glass between his fingers.

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "I'm going to finish changing, and head home."

"Tatsu?"

Tatsumaki spun back from her initial reentry to the bathroom, her eyes wide.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I'm just kind of surprised, is all," said Secter, one hand on the bar behind him. "That you were so…confident."

"Well, I know what I want," said Tatsumaki. "So I just went for it. Still want it, actually. To kiss you, I mean."

"Ah," said Secter. "Well, I'm uh…"

"It's ok," said Tatsumaki. "We can hold off for now. I don't want to push too hard." She pursed her lips. "Even still…"

Secter drew in a deep breath, to the point where his chest grew heavy from the ingested air. He let it out in a drawn-out exhale.

 _Maybe this is right,_ he thought. _Got to be more confident then._

"You'll get it," said Secter.

"Well, don't keep me waiting," said Tatsumaki, smirking at him again as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Secter struggled to keep his composure but slid down against the kitchen sink as Tatsumaki vanished from his view.

. . .

"He means a lot to me," said Tatsumaki as she strode away from her home. Every step of hers was cautious, and Fubuki walked alongside her sister, surprised.

"So you two have talked," said Fubuki, ruffling through her hair.

"We've always been talking. And…I've learned a lot. About him, about myself, about a lot of things."

"That's good," said Fubuki. "By the way, you're dressed nice. Are you going somewhere?"

Tatsumaki smiled, looking at the ground as she did so.

"No," said Fubuki. "Don't tell me. Are you-"

Her sister sighed, lifting her head to where she felt higher than the clouds.

"You are, aren't you," said Fubuki. "You're going out with him!"

"Calm down," said Tatsumaki. "And yes, I am. I'm really excited for it, actually."

"Didn't you just see him though?"

"I like seeing him."

"Oh my God, sis," said Fubuki. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks," said Tatsumaki. "I…didn't think something like this would end up happening. But here I am, with someone very special. Someone who makes me really happy. Someone who I can trust, and actually talk to, and would never take advantage of me."

"You have to tell me more about him," said Fubuki. "He's so closed off sometimes."

"Oh," said Tatsumaki, her expression turning dark. "Well, I can tell you some things. But the rest of it is personal, I'll let you know when he's comfortable with it. It…could be a while."

"Oh," said Fubuki. "Is it…bad?"

"It's definitely not all good. But like I said, it's personal. I'm really glad he opened up to me though. We talk all the time about all kinds of stuff, but it took us a while to reconcile those kinds of things. Still will."

"Wow, look at you," said Fubuki. "Sis, you've never talked this way. You're really maturing."

Tatsumaki waved her off.

"I'm trying," she said. "But there's still a ways to go. I feel…I feel as if things still aren't fully right between us, sis."

"I…don't know what you mean," said Fubuki. "I think things are better."

"But you're still… _off_ ," said Tatsumaki. "You're still nervous around me."

Fubuki glanced around, spotting a few passersby across the street.

"You're right, we should go someplace else," said Tatsumaki. When Fubuki looked at her, Tatsumaki shrugged. "I've still got time."

The two of them made their way to a nearby park, quiet and isolated on that side of town. Despite it being only slightly past noon, there was little activity in the place. Sprinklers sprayed from their locked positions in well-trimmed grass, and birds chirped at one another from wilting maple trees up above. Fubuki and Tatsumaki walked along a concrete path that snaked around through the middle of the park, passing empty wooden benches as they went.

"Nice place," said Fubuki.

"Not many go here," said Tatsumaki. "Always liked visiting."

They walked for a time, autumn leaves drifting all around them. The sun shone through each one of the falling leaves, drenching the ground below in quick swirls of auburn colors.

"I am really happy that you've found someone," said Fubuki. "I won't lie, I didn't think it would ever happen."

Tatsumaki scrunched her face in irritation. Fubuki crossed her arms in response.

"Don't act like your personality before all this wasn't so off-putting," said Fubuki. "You didn't trust anyone, and everyone was afraid of you."

"And you're…still afraid," said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah, a little," said Fubuki. "You exhausted me, basically imprisoned me at your house, and forced me to train with you. Don't you think I would be frightened from that?"

"It was the wrong thing to do!" yelled Tatsumaki. A passing couple froze in place to look at the two of them, and Tatsumaki pulled her collar up to hide her rising embarrassment. Fubuki just gave them a weak smile, before the two headed off.

"It was wrong of me," Tatsumaki muttered. "A horrible thing to do, I know that now. I won't ever do it again, I promise."

"We'll see," said Fubuki.

"No, I'm telling you," said Tatsumaki. "Never. Never again. I'm done with this whole mess, I'm done not trusting everyone. I want to start to open up a bit more, slow, but still. And I want you to know that I want you to be happy too, I don't want you to always be putting yourself down."

Fubuki's breath caught in her throat, the very essence of her life taken aback by Tatsumaki's words.

"I…" said Fubuki.

"You were better than me," said Tatsumaki. "Maybe not as strong powers wise, but you still tried to do the right thing while I didn't."

"I…didn't always do the right thing," said Fubuki. "My group and I didn't always do that."

"Even still, part of all this stemmed from me," said Tatsumaki. Thrusting her hands into her pockets, she kicked at a clump of dirt on the ground, sending it spraying across in a brown array in front of her. "I was a big part of the problem as to how you saw yourself. And I'm taking this time to tell you that I'm sorry, that I want to make things better between us."

"Sis, that would be great," said Fubuki. "I do want things to be better between us. I want things to be better for you, and for me too."

"They will be," said Tatsumaki. "I promise."

"Maybe."

They neared the end of the park in silence, rows of buildings coming into view illuminated by red and orange hues. Tatsumaki shivered beneath her coat, her sky-blue shirt flying as the wind crept right through her jacket.

"Can I tell you something sis?" asked Fubuki.

"Go ahead," said Tatsumaki.

"When you first started seeming interested in Secter, I kinda tried to push him towards you. Not just because I thought it would be good for the two of you, but also because…I was still kinda afraid. Of you."

"What?" asked Tatsumaki, an anguished cry. "What do you mean?"

"I kinda hoped you would spend more time with him because I didn't want to be with you all the time. I…needed a break, even though I spent a little time with you at first. I wanted to give you a chance, but I still couldn't shake those feelings."

"That's…that's…"

"I know, I know, it was selfish. And kind of cruel."

"It was fair," said Tatsumaki. "Although you shouldn't have gone behind my back like that. And you shouldn't have tried to use Secter like that. Although…I understand that you might've wanted someone else to…deal with me."

"I don't like it when you put it like that," said Fubuki. "I was just…afraid still, I guess. I saw Secter as a kind of backup, although I realized he was way more than that pretty quick."

"Backup?"

"Someone who would help you out when I couldn't or got too nervous to," said Fubuki. "I was worried I might snap at you if we hung out too much and you said something mean, and that might start the whole process over."

"No, no, I was never going to hurt you," said Tatsumaki. "I always wanted to make things right."

"Maybe, but I was still afraid. And because of that, I did something selfish. Something that put you two in a cruel light."

"What did you tell him about me, exactly?"

"Oh," said Fubuki. "Just, you know. That you seemed interested in him. That you…were probably crushing on him."

"Ah," said Tatsumaki, brows furrowed in annoyance. "What did he say?"

"I think he realized it, and was happy about it, but seemed…almost saddened by it too? It was weird, like he seemed happy that you were happy about something, but was still sad for some reason."

"That…makes sense," said Tatsumaki. "Although I guess none of that matters now, since the cat's out of the bag."

"Did you tell him how much you liked him?" asked Fubuki. "You had to have, since you're dating him now."

"Oh yes," said Tatsumaki. "And more than that."

"More?"

"We got a little intimate."

"Oh my God," said Fubuki, smiling. "Like how intimate? Did you hug or something?"

"Well…yeah," said Tatsumaki. "And we got real close at another point. Almost kissed, actually."

"You," said Fubuki. "Wow, I just…didn't think it would end up happening. And with someone like him too. You're lucky sis, he's a catch."

"I'm a catch too…"

Fubuki laughed.

"Yeah, you are," she said. "You seem to make each other really happy."

"He does," said Tatsumaki. "I'm going to spend so much time with him, you have no idea."

"You do that," said Fubuki. "Wow, feels like we're in a dream, doesn't it? So much has changed."

"It's good though."

"It is."

"We'll just see where it takes us," said Fubuki. "Wait, we need to get going."

"Oh shit, yeah," said Tatsumaki. "Come on, let's go! I am not going to show up late for this."

. . .

She managed to avoid showing up late, but Secter had beaten her to the punch. Before she went into the restaurant, she spotted him sitting in a booth near one of the windows. Tatsumaki stood across the street with her sister, and she pointed him out amongst the groups of sitting customers.

"There he is," said Tatsumaki. "He's not wearing that coat I got him though…"

"You got him a coat?" asked Fubuki.

"Yeah, but he's stubborn and won't wear it. Ah, whatever."

"He looks kind of nervous. Doesn't usually look like that."

"Yeah, I was surprised too. He gets kind of nervous about this sort of stuff, even though he's done it before. He's…got some issues about this sort of thing."

"Like what?" asked Fubuki, her tone full of concern.

"He's more down on himself than he lets on sometimes," said Tatsumaki. "I'll leave it at that."

"Now you're just going to make me curious."

"Well, I'm not giving you anymore," said Tatsumaki. Crossing her arms, she scowled away from Fubuki, as if her sister were trying to interrogate her for more information. Fubuki sighed.

"Alright then," she said. "Well, have fun on your date."

"I will," said Tatsumaki. She stared across the street, flinching when Secter's gaze started to shift towards her. "I should go in, and not stand here like a weirdo."

"That would probably be a good idea."

"I'm really doing this, aren't I," said Tatsumaki. "I think I'm ready."

"You look ready to me."

"Yeah, yeah I'm ready," said Tatsumaki. "I want to be with him."

"Wow, sis. You sound like you want to marry him or something."

"I just like him a lot, ok? We've been through a lot together, and we're closer than I thought we would ever be."

"If he is right for you," said Fubuki, lifting a hand to her mouth to hide an emerging smile. "Then go for him."

"I will," said Tatsumaki, closing her eyes and lifting her chin in indignance. "See you later, sis."

"Have fun."

Tatsumaki strode across the street, her head held high. People strayed far from her path, some of them gasping as they spotted her enter the café. She paid them no mind, instead walking into the eatery without a care in the world. Secter spotted her from his seat, his face lighting up at the sight of her. Tatsumaki's heart began to accelerate as she sat across from him, her eyes pointed at Secter's chest.

"I was worried you wouldn't show up for a bit," said Secter.

"What?" asked Tatsumaki, her gaze rising to meet his. "I wasn't going to stand you up, are you crazy?"

"I'm joking," said Secter. "By the way, take a look at the menu, I told you they had good stuff here."

As a matter of fact they did, and Tatsumaki delighted at every swill of the coffee she ordered, each sip brimming with chocolate and fruity flavor. She nodded in approval at the drink, before setting it back down.

"You're right, this is good," she said.

"Told you," said Secter. "Heard it was good stuff."

Tatsumaki cradled her mug, casting glances back over at the patrons of the restaurant. Most seemed to be paying them no mind, but a few would look over at them every now and again, before turning back. Hushed voices could be heard from across the room, and shocked expressions were exchanged between customers.

"You ok Tatsu?" asked Secter. "You're kind of quiet."

"I'm fine," said Tatsumaki.

"You look amazing by the way," said Secter. "Did I say that already?"

"No, you didn't."

"Kind of goes without saying, to be honest."

Tatsumaki snorted at him, before placing her mug on the table again. Her hands refused to leave the sides of the mug, despite the glowing heat seeping through the ceramic.

"You sure you're ok?" asked Secter. "You seem a bit off."

"It's…it's just that…" said Tatsumaki. "I…kinda preferred this whole thing when it was just us. I don't know, maybe it's stupid. But I liked it when it was just the two of us together, all close and intimate. I don't have a problem being out here in public with you…but I'm just not used to it yet."

"To be honest, I liked it too," said Secter. "But it's ok, we don't have to talk about anything super heavy here or anything like that. We can just get some food together, act as friends."

"No, we're dating," said Tatsumaki. "And that's that."

Secter smiled at her, beaming.

"Of course," he said. "Wouldn't want it any other way."

"And if people want to judge that, then let em," said Tatsumaki. "I don't care, we're together now."

"I like what you're saying," said Secter, one shoulder drawn back and a finger gun pointed at her. "Don't worry about people judging or anything."

"Although…I kinda like being at your house or mine a bit more," said Tatsumaki. "Not that we can't do stuff like this from time to time, but I don't know, I just really liked sitting there with you, doing usual stuff."

"You're speaking my language," said Secter. "And not because I wouldn't want to go out with you either, but it's also kind of my thing. Also don't really have a ton of money at the moment, and restaurants can get expensive." His neck reddened as he ran a hand along the back of it.

"Don't worry about that," said Tatsumaki, rolling her eyes.

"You're not buying me everything," said Secter. "I want to contribute in this relationship."

"You contribute by being there."

Secter almost choked on his drink, sputtering and coughing until he managed to set the drink down. Tatsumaki straightened in alarm, her arm starting to extend past the table.

"It's ok," said Secter. "That…that was a sweet thing for you to say."

"Well it's true," said Tatsumaki. Her arm retracted so it could be crossed with the other. "You just listening to me, being there for me, talking to me…it means the world."

"You too," said Secter. "Oh man, my heart's getting all strange now."

"What's that mean?"

"Warm, and uh, quick."

"That means you like me, Secter."

"I know that. But you make me feel like no one else ever could."

Tatsumaki felt like melting.

"I…think…" said Tatsumaki. Struggling for words, she bolted upright when the waiter approached. The two of them ordered their meals, and Tatsumaki twiddled her thumbs as the menus and the waiter moved away.

"I think the same about you," said Tatsumaki. "I trust you so much, and feel so close, and…" She trailed off.

"And?" asked Secter. His eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"There's been something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never thought I could," said Tatsumaki. "I had been thinking about it even before you arrived, but now that you're here, I want your help with it. Need it, actually."

"Anything, Tatsu."

Tatsumaki reached across the table, her hand finding his. She smiled at him, as her fingers stroked the back of his hand.

"I knew you would," said Tatsumaki. "This is why I-"

The waiter returned with appetizers, two bowls of steaming bread fresh out of the oven. Tatsumaki didn't remember ordering bread but had been treated to extra gifts from restaurants and stores before. She kept her hand on Secter's, who watched the food fall with mild confusion.

"For our S-class hero, courtesy of the chef," said the waiter. "Please enjoy." He placed another plate on the table, a colorful circle of different kinds of cheeses and dips for the bread. At least five variants of cheese adorned the metal circle, and Secter raised an eyebrow at the orange and white chunks. The waiter headed off, and Tatsumaki shook her head at the assortment.

"Wow," said Secter. "Well that's nice."

"Lots of places do this," said Tatsumaki. "It's nothing special."

"I've never had anything like this," said Secter. "And brie too! Ooh, brie with honey."

Tatsumaki gave him a sad smile, keeping her hand firmly atop his. Secter opened his palm for them to hold hands, and Tatsumaki did so, now stroking the bottom of his palm.

"Well, you stay with me, and you'll be treated to all kinds of stuff," said Tatsumaki. "People give me free stuff all the time, sometimes just because they're fans or something."

"Huh," said Secter, munching on a crumbly piece of feta. "To be honest, I don't really need any of that stuff. I'd stay with you because I love you, Tatsu."

Tatsumaki gasped, even more shocked at Secter's continued devouring of the cheese than his previous statement. It was as if he hadn't even really noticed what he said.

"You do?" she asked. "On the first date?"

"Hmm?" asked Secter, his mouth bulging from a honey-dipped brie. Swallowing down the delicious morsel, he chuckled at her.

"Oh," he said. "Well, that seemed like the best way to put it."

"Put what?" asked Tatsumaki. "Put what?"

"How I felt, I suppose," said Secter. His face began to turn red, eyes trained down on the bread. "I uh, might be moving a bit too fast here. What I meant-"

"It's too late, you don't get to take it back," said Tatsumaki.

"Well, no, that's not what I was going to say," said Secter. "I think…I think I just searched my mind for ways to describe how I felt, and that's what came to me. You…helped me through a lot of difficult stuff, things I'm still struggling with but I know you'll still be there for me, and always be so passionate in making me feel better, and that just meant…so much."

Tatsumaki gave a slow nod, her head swimming in a sea of emotions. Nervousness, warmth, fear, and attraction were among the largest waves.

"That…is a good way to put it," she said. "And I will, I will always be there. But you…love me?"

Secter too felt as if he were struggling, running through a maze to which the answer was never in a clear direction. He took a step back within his mind, weighing his possible decisions.

 _It was quick,_ he thought. _But I do…I do like her that much. I probably don't deserve someone like her, but I do care for her more than anything. Should I say that? She looks…nervous, this might not be a good thing._

And on Tatsumaki's end:

 _I can't believe he just said it like that, like it was nothing to him,_ she thought. _Does he really feel that strongly about me? He won't even look me in the eye, is he being sincere? He seemed it… This is all so hard for me to process, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I see this man, and all I think about is how we've grown together. How I want to grow more with him. How close we are, and how everything was so hard but made so much sense when I was with him. How much further we have to go. This…is all so scary to me, but I'm not backing down. I do this for me, and I do this for him. Really, for him. I do love him._

"I…do," said Secter. "And I don't want that…to be offputting, we can take this as slow as you want. I didn't mean to alarm you or anything."

"I love you too," said Tatsumaki. "And we can take it however we want, I don't care. I love you too."

Secter let out a tiny sigh of relief, his fingers wrapping around hers. Tatsumaki was getting lost in his eyes, both of them separated from the world by a warm veil. Nothing else mattered for the moment, there was only them, connected by touch and by heart. Tatsumaki hoped it would last forever, but the food had to arrive eventually. They ate it quick, giving each other knowing looks as they came close to finishing. The bill was paid, and the two of them were off, laughing and bumping into each other as they walked close together in the streets. Secter's side was glued to Tatsumaki's, and her arm remained around his back. They made it back to Secter's home, and just like last time, found their places on the couch. The city had been unusually quiet the last few days, according to a report on the television, although the lovers on the couch knew why. At one point Tatsumaki looked up at a sleepy Secter, his eyes drooping and his blinks heavy. He was everything she wanted in that time, someone she never would've expected to meet in a thousand lifetimes. If someone were out there watching out for her, she thanked them for having her meet him. As Secter slunk down to be close to eye level, Tatsumaki leaned forward and kissed him on the neck. Secter gave a little shudder as she touched him.

He responded by leaning in close to her and kissing her on the forehead. Tatsumaki's heart flew sky-high.

"Good night, Tatsu," said Secter.

"Good night, Secter," said Tatsumaki.

"Love you."

"Love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Another day passed, and Secter decided it was time to head back to the dojo for a visit. According to the papers, a new section for the dojo was being added due to an influx of recruits, partly due to the efforts of the Neo Heroes. Secter eyed the name with suspicion, their outlined claims in the article arousing his approval but the criticisms launched at them about their organization preferring high-tier heroes leaving him shaking his head. He flung the paper down and headed out, spotting Tatsumaki and her sister waiting for him not far from his home. Fubuki gave him a warm smile as he approached, while Tatsumaki walked over and clung to his arm. Secter noticed Fubuki stifle a laugh at this, while her sister paid her no mind.

As they went, Fubuki couldn't help but stare at her sister while she talked with Secter. Her body language, always pivoted towards Secter, her joyous expression, her constant touching of his arm would've been unthinkable to Fubuki a while ago. She watched in surprise as her sister continued to remain close with Secter even while other people were around, and she smiled how despite some of the suspicious looks the two got from passersby, they kept laughing together anyways.

With the dojo coming into view, Tatsumaki told Secter of how she wanted to get a better view of the place and flew off to look over the building. Fubuki sidled over to Secter, who watched his favorite esper dart through the sky.

"So," said Fubuki, startling Secter back into reality.

"Hmm?" asked Secter.

"I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah, you were."

"I won't lie, seeing the two of you together makes me really happy."

"Thanks Fubuki, I'm glad you're happy for your sis."

"And for you," said Fubuki. "A month ago, I never would've thought I would've been recommending Tatsumaki to you as a girlfriend, yet here you two are. You seem right for each other."

"We mesh pretty well, don't we? Better than I thought we would, for sure."

"Yeah," said Fubuki. "And I hope with time, you'll tell me a bit more about yourself too."

Secter looked downcast, letting out a short, rapid burst of air out through his nostrils.

"I think…I think I will," he said. "There's a lot though, and much of it is really…personal."

"It's ok, you don't have to tell me now," said Fubuki. "But even still, I'd like to get to know the man who my sister loves."

Secter turned to her in shock, his eyes wide.

"Hey, I can just tell ok?" said Fubuki. "By the way she looks and acts towards you. She _really really_ likes you."

"You're not wrong," said Secter. "But I like her just as much."

Fubuki covered her mouth with her hand. This was big.

"I kinda figured you did," said Fubuki. "But even still, this is…big news."

"It's definitely a different world for her," said Secter. "Maybe for both of us."

"I hope you two end up together," said Fubuki. "You make an adorable couple."

Secter blushed a little, waving her off.

"Ah stop it," he said.

"Well you do."

"Thanks."

Tatsumaki returned to the walking duo, and they made their way up an ludicrous amount of stairs, Fubuki and Tatsumaki eventually deciding to fly to the top while Secter beat them both there via teleportation.

"Oh," said Tatsumaki, as she and her sister encountered Secter already at the door. "I almost forgot to mention, sis, Secter is really strong."

"Huh," said Fubuki. "Like, S-class strong?"

"Without a doubt," said Tatsumaki.

 _So maybe he really didn't take damage when they fought,_ thought Fubuki. _Wonder how strong he really is._

The doors opened, and the three of them were welcomed by Bang, who gave a surprised nod to Secter.

"Ah, hello Secter," said Bang. "It's been a while since I've last seen you!"

"I know, I know," said Secter. "I've been a little busy."

"Well, always glad to have you back," said Bang. "And who knows, maybe you wouldn't mind showing off a few moves today, hmm?" He chuckled at the thought.

"Eh, I don't see why not," said Secter. "Could teach the newbies a thing or two."

"You're actually going to fight huh," said Tatsumaki. She appeared at his side, her hand sliding down his arm. "I've got to see this."

The two of them walked into the center of the dojo, Bang staring as they went. Scratching the back of his head, he gave Fubuki a quizzical look.

"They're into each other," said Fubuki. "Trust me, there's been a lot that's happened. Stuff even I don't know about."

"I…I see," said Bang. "Well, your sister certainly does seem different. I noticed it when she actually showed up here. Even still, she seems quite pleased with him around."

"They make each other really happy," said Fubuki. "It's so nice to see."

"Hmm," said Bang, eying the couple. "You know what? I agree."

The day went on with tea and conversation, Bang picking up bits and pieces of the trio's talks while he watched Charanko yell at and attempt to train a group of newbies. At one point, Charanko nearly tripped while trying out a new move, prompting Bang to dash in and save him from failing yet again. As he lifted the reddening apprentice off the ground, Bang heard the sounds of footsteps approaching behind him.

"Everything alright over here?" asked Secter.

"Fine, fine," said Bang. "Ahem. Charanko, why don't you take a break for a moment, and let Secter showcase his skills."

Charanko grumbled to himself but allowed Secter to step in closer.

"Do you have any particular moves you wish to show?" asked Bang.

"Uh, it would be easier with a partner I think," said Secter.

"Well, we have many eager apprentices here…"

"I was thinking more along the lines of someone like you," said Secter.

Back on the couch, Tatsumaki propped her head up in her hands as she lie flat down to watch. Fubuki had her attention captured for the spectacle as well.

"Ah, I see," said Bang. "Well in that case…" He drew back, arms thrusting outward in a ready position. The lines across his face grew darker, great abysses across an ancient warrior's mask. His eyes were tired, but still full of fire. "Have at you."

Secter readied himself, his side turned towards Bang.

"After you," said Secter.

Bang struck first, thousands of blows headed from all different directions at Secter's body. Fubuki watched in awe at the display, every fist turning invisible from her standpoint. Tatsumaki just shook her head.

As the smaller esper predicted, not a single blow landed on Secter. Instead, Secter deflected all of the attacks with a wave of his arm, sending a surprised Bang backwards. Following up with a kick to the chest so fast that neither the recruits nor the espers noticed it until Secter's foot collided with Bang's chest, the old master was knocked to the ground, too stunned to even speak. When the spectators caught up with reality, a collective gasp of horror sounded off from their area.

"Well well well," said Bang, collecting himself from the ground. "Quite impressive indeed. But can you handle this?"

As it turned out, Secter could, and as Bang launched himself back at Secter, the old man's eyes trained on every potential weakspot as he unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches that severed the very air itself, he found his own weakpoint below the head being punished by a punch from Secter. The blow landed squarely into Bang's throat, and the martial master let out a sputtering cough as he tumbled from the immense impact. Secter followed up with a grab, lifting Bang over his head and tossing him back into his original spot, without so much as a grunt. Bang lie on the ground, completely flabbergasted.

The recruits were starting to look like insects now, their eyes bulging so wide that they almost seemed as if they were going to pop out. They watched as Bang stood back up, incredulous.

"That…" said Bang, panting into the air. "Was quite impressive."

"Was just a few moves," said Secter. "Nothing too fancy."

"Well," said Bang. "I think it's time for a short break, let us all round up for some tea."

The main group assembled over by the couch, a nonstop stream of compliments and questions by Bang as to where Secter learned his moves. Secter piloted through the verbal flak carefully, being vague with many of his answers but trying to give as much explanation as he could.

"Military training, you say," said Bang. "Huh, very interesting."

Tatsumaki gave Secter an uneasy look, a hand resting on his thigh. He smiled at her, weak but determined.

"Yes," said Secter. "But that was a while ago. I tend to perfect my skills on my own by now."

"Very interesting indeed," said Bang. "Well, I'm glad you shared your skills with us today, even if it did mean putting old me down."

"No offense intended," said Secter.

"Oh, none taken," said Bang. "It's been quite a while since I've been bested by a hero, it seems I have some things to learn from you!" He laughed, with Secter feeling relieved to hear actual joy in his voice.

The hours went on, without much progress being imparted on the recruits by Charanko. Fubuki and the others watched and talked, and the sun outside fell far beyond the horizon. Fubuki excused herself to use the restroom, and Tatsumaki and Secter watched the city flicker to life outside.

"It really is a nice view up here," said Tatsumaki. Sidling over to Secter, the two of them cuddled as cool winds blew through some of the open windows of the dojo.

"It is," said Secter. "Especially with the trees and everything…"

"I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with how my life is going," said Tatsumaki. "I feel so much better, like so much has been lifted off my chest."

"I'm here for you," said Secter, squeezing Tatsumaki in even closer. "And I know what you mean, I feel like I had so many dark clouds surrounding me when I first got here, and now, I'm starting to see through them. They're going to pass."

"I'll be here even after they do," said Tatsumaki.

"I know."

"Secter?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I've been wanting to tell you about, something I wanted to do. I think I mentioned it the other day."

"You…did, yes."

"I've been wanting to do it for a while, but never could find the strength," said Tatsumaki. "You've helped me find myself, and I want to do it now."

"Uh, what is it?"

Tatsumaki's eyes darted around the room, her hands tightening their grasp around Secter's side and chest.

"I…don't really want to talk about it here," said Tatsumaki. "But I do want to tell you. It's about part of my past, actually. What happened to me when I was younger."

 _I saw part of that, a long time ago,_ thought Secter. _But only a piece. Shouldn't have delved into it then, only going to let her tell me now. You can tell me anything Tatsu, I'll always listen._

"Whenever you're comfortable," said Secter. "Whenever you're ready."

Tatsumaki buried her head into Secter's shoulder, green curls unfurling down his arm and over part of his chest.

"Thanks Secter," she said. "This will mean so much to me."

"You know I'd never leave you to fight alone," said Secter. "We tackle our problems together, when we need each other's strength."

"Well, I'll need you for this," said Tatsumaki. "It won't be easy for me."

"We can do it," said Secter. "Whatever it is."

Fubuki returned to the bathroom, and "awwed" at the two of them huddled together on the couch. Tatsumaki delved deeper into Secter's chest cavity, while Secter hid a smile. By that time it was getting late, and the trio thanked Bang for his hospitality before heading out. On the way, Tatsumaki spotted a robed swordsman heading up the stairs towards the dojo. She told Secter and her sister that she would be right back, before flying back towards the man climbing the steps.

"You," said Tatsumaki, to the swordsman.

"Eh?" asked Atomic Samurai. "Oh, if it isn't Tornado herself. What can I do for you?"

"You owe Secter an apology," said Tatsumaki.

"What? What for?"

"You called him out on television with Flash, and despite that, he still saved your ass."

"When?"

"After you got beat by Inferno," said Tatsumaki.

"I barely remember the aftermath…" said the samurai. Rubbing his chin, his face lit up as he came to a realization. "Hang on, I recall hearing your voice before I came to. So it was you who helped us out, not the coward."

Tatsumaki blasted straight down, until she was inches away from the samurai's face. Atomic Samurai stumbled back, one hand gripping the handle of his sword. The blade of wheat he so often chewed tumbled from his mouth at the sight of Tatsumaki. Her eyes gleamed with hatred, and her fists went white with rage. Every hair on her body turned green with psychic energy, and Atomic Samurai swore he could've heard her teeth grinding apart.

"Do not. Call Secter. A coward. He is ten times braver than you'll ever be."

"Calm yourself," said Atomic Samurai. "I didn't mean any offense. To the man…who you think is brave. Wait, you're siding with him?"

"I'm not just siding with him, I believe in him. And you might've heard me after you got your ass handed to you, but it was Secter who killed all those monsters. That's right, all of them. Without my help. So you do yourself a favor and apologize to Secter at some point, because you caused him a great deal of harm when you insulted him on tv. And I don't forgive people who hurt my Secter very easily."

"Fine, fine, I'll get around to it," said Atomic Samurai. His hand fell from his sword, but his eyes remained trained on the glowing doom that floated before him.

 _Wait, did she say "my" Secter?_ he thought.

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "Then you better get to it."

Flying off from the frazzled samurai, Tatsumaki rejoined the group. Both Fubuki and Secter gave her confused looks as she arrived back, but Tatsumaki only stood aloof.

"Just tying up some loose ends," she said.

Eventually Fubuki split off from the group, saying goodnight to her sister and her friend. Tatsumaki followed Secter as they made their way home.

Along the way, Secter spotted a man sitting alone on a bench, his back hunched over and his expression glum as he munched on an ice cream sandwich. Squinting at him, he recognized the unmistakable shiny dome of a head that could only belong to Saitama.

"Hey," said Secter, nudging Tatsumaki. "Is that Saitama over there?"

"Looks like it," said Tatsumaki. "He seems kind of down, honestly."

"Hmm," said Secter. "I want to talk to him real quick."

"Go for it."

Secter approached Saitama, the bald hero's head barely moving in response. Crossing his arms, Secter cleared his throat, which garnered little in the way of action from the caped baldy.

"Didn't expect to see you around here," said Secter. "You remember me?"

"Yeah, you're the guy with the strange name," said Saitama. "Scepter or something."

Secter's eyes glazed over, his arms falling to his sides in exasperation.

"Secter," he said. "It's a weird name, I know."

"Right," said Saitama. "Well, what do you want?"

"Look, I know how strong you are," said Secter. "And I know that probably makes you feel kinda…disconnected from things. Hell, maybe that's what's bothering you now. But I don't like to see heroes look so down, especially if they don't deserve to."

"I'm not down," said Saitama. "Just bored."

"Ah. Why's that?"

"Well, there's not much challenge in things anymore," said Saitama. "I don't remember if I told you this, barely remember the last time we met honestly."

"It was a while back, but I think you said something like that," said Secter. "Being a hero mean that much to you, eh?"

"I was looking forward to it," said Saitama. He took the finishing bite out of his dessert sandwich, the icy coldness of the treat numbing his tongue for a second. "But now it's different."

"Because it all comes so easily," said Secter. "Think you mentioned this being a hobby more than anything now."

"Yeah, but it's not a fun one."

"Well, it might be hard to hear," said Secter. "But you might be stuck like this. The only way forward is to find new challenges. Maybe you've been given a gift, you could help a lot of people the way you are."

"Yeah, but it's never as self-fulfilling as it should be," said Saitama. "I mean, I like helping people and all, but if you don't get a real fight with a monster, it takes a lot away from the heroism and all."

"Eh, you are what you are," said Secter. "No one will begrudge you for that. If I was in your sort of position some years ago, I would've been ecstatic to be able to help so many people so easily. To be extra strong in a world of strong people. Never forget the people you're helping Saitama, sometimes it's more about them than it is about you. Even when you're in a world where people don't seem to fall as often…"

"Hmm?" asked Saitama. "Oh. Yeah. I know. Even still. There's nothing to learn, nothing to be gained."

"Nonsense, you've still got plenty to learn about yourself," said Secter. "We all never stop learning. Even if you've reached the peak of fighting ability, there's so many other things you could learn or master. Use your mastered skills for good, more as a duty by this point."

"What if there isn't anything else that interests me?"

"Have you looked?"

"Kind of…" Saitama shook his head, crumpling the wrapper in his fist. "And why are you talking to me about all this anyways? We've met like what, twice now?"

"I like to help people out if I can," said Secter. "It's what I try to do."

"Yeah well-" said Saitama. He narrowed his eyes at someone behind Secter, recognizing her unmistakable hair in an instant. "Hang on, I think Tornado's following you."

Tatsumaki was watching the two of them from the sidewalk, her posture distant. She frowned as Saitama's gaze met hers.

"That's kind of creepy," he said. "Didn't expect her to be here."

"Oh," said Secter, looking back at her. "She's with me."

"Huh?" asked Saitama. "You two friends or something?"

"Closer than that."

Saitama's face contorted to one of utter confusion. His expression looked as if his mind had become a maelstrom of conflicting thoughts.

"With…her," said Saitama.

"Trust me, I didn't exactly like her when we first met either," said Secter. "But she's grown on me quite a bit. Once you get to know her, you realize she's really not so bad. Much better than that actually, she's pretty great."

"Really," said Saitama. "Well, she opened up to me a bit after we fought one time, but that wasn't much. And hey, she's looking at you all funny. Like she knows you real well."

"And probably wants me to go back, right?" asked Secter. "I think she wants to go home."

"Hey, don't let me stop you," said Saitama. "If she's your cup of tea, go right ahead."

"Eh, she might be an acquired taste," said Secter. "But I love her all the same."

"Whoa," said Saitama. "That serious huh."

"Pretty much."

"Huh. Well, if it makes you two happy, I guess."

"It does for me, and she seems pretty happy about it too."

"Saitama," said Tatsumaki, suddenly appearing at Secter's side. Secter jumped at her voice, surprised she had decided to walk over to them.

"Oh," said Saitama. "Hey, Tatsumaki."

"I just wanted to apologize for earlier," said Tatsumaki. "The whole fight, me threatening my sister and all that…it wasn't the right thing to do."

Saitama stared at Tatsumaki, dumbfounded. He glanced back over at Secter, who gave him a small nod. Turning to Tatsumaki, he reeled back into his seat.

"Ok," said Saitama. "You're saying…that you were wrong."

"Yes," said Tatsumaki. "I was. I'm trying to change a little now, both for my sister, and to be…nicer to other people too."

"And not be as closed off?" asked Saitama. "Not to push others away?"

"I'm going to try," said Tatsumaki. "Will…take a bit."

"Hey, that's fine by me," said Saitama. "Good for you, Tatsumaki. Did this guy help you out or something?"

Tatsumaki glanced over at Secter, who didn't notice her for a second. He looked down at Tatsumaki, her eyes shining up at him. Secter couldn't help but smile.

"He…has done so much for me," said Tatsumaki. "It would be difficult to explain it all. And I don't know if I even could explain all of it. But to make things simple, yes, yes he did. I'll always be grateful to him for helping me find myself."

"Hey now," said Secter. "Let's not forget what you did too. I would be in a much worse place if it weren't for you. You've helped me through some real difficult stuff."

"Alright, alright, break it up," said Saitama. "I get it, you guys got real feelings for each other."

"What, does that bother you, Saitama?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Not at all," said Saitama. "Just take it somewhere else." He frowned for the briefest of moments, before rising from his seat. "Although it's good to see you want to change."

"I'll do my best," said Tatsumaki. "And can we head home, Secter? It's cold out here."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Secter. "I guess we'll be seeing you around, eh Saitama?"

"Yeah, I'll be seeing you two," said Saitama. "Have fun on your date, or anniversary, or whatever it is."

"Close," said Secter. "More of a stroll."

"Whatever you say," said Saitama. He started to walk off in the opposite direction, his cape flowing behind him like a white wave through a dark ocean. "You two have fun."

"See you, Saitama," said Tatsumaki. "Don't strain yourself."

"Doing what?" asked Saitama, stopping short of his goal of the nearby crosswalk.

"You know, doing hero things and all that," said Tatsumaki. "Don't let it get to you."

Saitama pondered at this for a moment, before striding down the crosswalk when an electronic sign on the other side prompted him to walk. Tatsumaki and Secter watched him leave, before heading back to the esper's home.

"I'd stay with you," said Tatsumaki, halting just outside of her home. "But I need to think about some things for a bit. That…doesn't bother you, right? This isn't because I want to get away from you."

"No, no, not at all," said Secter. "Even people in relationships need alone time every now and again."

"I'm glad you understand," said Tatsumaki. She grasped onto Secter's shoulder to steady herself, rising up so that her lips would meet his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning, Secter."

"See you then, Tatsu," said Secter. His spirits high, Secter got back home. No nightmares would plague him that night, only dreams of bright green fields and a roaming car running along the horizon.

. . .

Getting up at six a.m proved to be a far more difficult task than Secter had expected, but he managed to groan and crawl his way out of bed, smashing a fist down onto the beeping torture device along his bedside table. Steadying his nearby tennis ball in its stand, he walked into the kitchen and pulled out his big recipebook, eying each page as carefully as the sunlight would allow.

Hours later, the assortment was complete. Orange juice, steaming hot waffles, sizzling bacon, homemade cinnamon rolls, all were compiled in a neat array on his kitchen table, Secter grinning from ear to ear at the results. He left and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, poking at the dark circles under his eyes. Snarling, he headed back out into the kitchen, just in time for a knock to come at the door.

Secter rushed over, slipping on some socks on his way. He flung the door open, and seeing the person standing before him, he stretched his arms far and wide.

"Tatsuuuu!" said Secter. "Great to see you!"

Tatsumaki snorted at him, barely able to contain her amusement at the ridiculous display Secter was making.

"You just saw me last night," she said. "But it's good to see you."

Secter began to close his arms, but Tatsumaki stepped into him, hugging him tight. Secter did the same, the two of them swaying in the hallway from the impact.

"I made you something," said Secter. "Come and see."

"Hmm?" asked Tatsumaki. She closed the door with her heel, and followed Secter into the kitchen.

"Eh?" said Secter. "Eh? Pick whatever you like, I felt like making something today."

"Wow…" said Tatsumaki. "You made all this for me?"

"Well, for both of us," said Secter. "I mean, there's no way in hell that you're going to eat all this."

"It does look pretty good."

"Yeaaaaaaah, no," said Secter. "I get to try some of the fruits of my labor. But you're welcome to anything you like."

"Thanks Secter," she said.

"Homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon, waffles, eggs if you want," said Secter. "Your man's got em all."

"Jeez, how long did it take you make all this?"

"I got up pretty early. Think around six."

"Wow, I'm surprised that didn't kill you."

"It came close."

Tatsumaki coughed into her arm, suddenly uncomfortable. Secter shook his head.

"Ah, come on," he said. "Let's eat."

Every morsel of the waffle melted away in Tatsumaki's mouth, and she lost count of how many she ate. By the time she was done, her stomach felt distended and heavy, and she burped into the skies above, her hand to her mouth in an instant.

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. "Ate too much."

"I know, you ate way more than I thought you would," said Secter.

"It was good."

"You know what I always say."

"Tatsumaki's my favorite?"

"Well yes, but also that I aim to please. Also that I'm the best chef currently living."

"I don't know, I make some good stir-fry."

"That…is a fair point. You can settle for number two then."

"We'll see about that," said Tatsumaki. She managed to sit upright in her chair, taking a swig of orange juice as she reached the table.

"Soooo," said Secter. "You mentioned something to me last night…"

"I know," said Tatsumaki. "It's about my past, actually."

"Right," said Secter. "I'm all ears, Tatsu."

"I know. And I'm glad. But I want you to come with me someplace, Secter. Someplace I want to destroy."

"Destroy? What is it?"

Tatsumaki groaned, slumping over the top of the table. Her arm wafted down over the tablecloth, and Secter moved his dish away so her fingers wouldn't land in his syrup.

"You ok?" asked Secter.

"Just waiting for my stomach to clear," said Tatsumaki. "I'll be fine."

"Alright."

While Tatsumaki recovered from her waffle-related injuries, Secter cleaned up the table, scrubbing every dish that came his way and stacking them into a tiny dishwasher. It refused to start the first three times he pressed the 'activate' button, and Secter huffed with anger as he tried a fourth time. The machine finally hummed to life, quivering and sputtering as the waters within it rose.

"You should come live with me," said Tatsumaki. "No offense, but your place is kind of a dump."

"It's small, but it's homey," said Secter. "Kinda rundown though."

"And it still smells a bit like blood in here," said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah, I had been trying to get that out. But I can still fucking smell it, no matter what I do."

Tatsumaki looked back at Secter, sadness engulfing her expression.

"Secter," she said.

"What?" asked Secter. His voice was full of worry. "What is it?"

"If you got attacked by the thing again, you would tell me, right?"

"I…"

"Because the last time, you didn't. You would tell me now, right?"

"I would."

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "Please don't be afraid to call me if it happens, alright? It fucking kills me to come over here and see you like that, knowing I could've been there for you but wasn't."

"It's not your fault…"

"You have to let me know," said Tatsumaki. "I want to be there for you. I want to help you fight it."

"I don't know if you can…"

"Well, I want to try," said Tatsumaki, slamming her fist down on the table. Her glass shuddered at the impact, and Secter almost had to dive to save it from falling off the edge. Tatsumaki caught it instead, and laid a hand on Secter's arm as he got close.

"Don't be afraid," said Tatsumaki. "I've got it."

"Right," said Secter. "And…I'll call you. I promise."

"Do you have the phone I gave you?"

"Oh, yes," said Secter. He flashed her the phone, shining silver in the palm of his hand. "Got it right here."

"Is that me?" asked Tatsumaki, her eyes scanning over the homescreen.

"Huh?" asked Secter. "Oh, yeah." He pulled the phone back over to his chest, his face reddening a little. "Not sure where this was taken, but you looked real heroic here."

"It was just a photo op taken a while ago," said Tatsumaki. "I did like one pose before I decided the whole thing was stupid and left."

"Somehow that makes it even better," said Secter. "Like I got a rare piece of history or something. The one time Tatsumaki decided to comply with people."

"It's not rare," said Tatsumaki. "They print it on posters sometimes."

"You gave em permission?" asked Secter.

"Kind of," said Tatsumaki. "More along the lines of I didn't complain, because it looked decent."

"You look ready to kill some monsters in it," said Secter. "And I like you, so I set it as the homescreen."

Tatsumaki giggled, a sound that Secter wasn't sure he had heard before.

"You like me, huh," said Tatsumaki. "Well, I like you too."

"Who would've thought," said Secter. He pulled up a chair next to Tatsumaki, and she sighed as he drew close.

"I think it's time," she said. "I told you a little bit about me. Something I'd been meaning to say."

"It sounds…tough for you, whatever it is," said Secter. "So take your time."

"It is," said Tatsumaki. "But I think it helps explain some things, and I want you to know about it. Well, I want to talk about it with someone. Specifically you."

"I'm right here."

Tatsumaki sighed.

"Years ago, back when I was little, my adopted parents sold me to an organization for them to run tests on me. They knew I was a psychic genius back then, and wanted to do all sorts of stupid tests and keep me locked up so I wouldn't be a danger to others."

"They… _sold_ you?" asked Secter.

"They didn't give a shit about me," said Tatsumaki. "They didn't care about me, or want to take the time to know about me. They just sold me off, like I was somebody's property or something."

Secter clenched the side of the table, his eyes lighting up with fury.

"That…is so fucking terrible," said Secter. "I've seen stuff like that before, I think my parents basically wanted to sell me and my siblings off to some private school or boot camp so they wouldn't have to look at us."

"But they didn't want to run tests on you, or imprison you," said Tatsumaki. "It wasn't a school."

"I know, I know," said Secter. "Sorry, didn't mean to-"

"No, it's ok," said Tatsumaki, caressing Secter's shoulder. "Actually the fact you're getting really mad at this is really adorable."

"Adorable?" asked Secter, confused.

"You care about me," said Tatsumaki. "And even though this was years ago, it still makes you mad."

"Well, it's not right."

"It wasn't," said Tatsumaki. "But they kept me down there in that stupid lab, running all sorts of tests on me, and keeping me in a cell when they finished. They wouldn't let me outside, they wouldn't let me see anyone, I didn't get to see my family, or friends, or baby sister…"

"They…imprisoned you," said Secter

 _I want to live, Secter, I want to breathe._

"Yeah," said Tatsumaki. "I was trapped. I…had problems liking people after that. Problems trusting people."

"How did you get out?"

"There was a monster, who the hell knows where it came from, but there was a monster that rampaged through the place one day. Destroyed a whole bunch of stuff and was about to get to me. I thought I was gonna die until he showed up."

"He?"

"Blast. S-class one. He came, and obliterated the thing. And he asked me why I didn't try to fight, and he told me, that when the time came, I shouldn't rely on other people to come save me."

"I mean, I appreciate what he did, but that doesn't sound like the right kind of message for a young girl," said Secter. "Also kind of contradicts what he just did."

"It still resonated with me," said Tatsumaki. "I had to rely on myself now, because I couldn't trust anybody. I had to use my own powers to solve my own problems, and I had to use them to keep the only person close to me, my little sis, safe."

"You didn't have to go it alone," said Secter. "But you were pushed into thinking that way."

"And you were too, weren't you?" said Tatsumaki. "Or at least, you convinced yourself it had to be that way."

"Aah," said Secter, completely taken aback.

"You told yourself that you could help everybody else, but when it came down to you, only you would deal with your problems. You became alone, like I did. But for different reasons."

"You…pushed people away."

"And you isolated yourself. I think I started to see that a while ago, and it sort of…drew me to you. You were kind of a kindred spirit, I guess. Alone for similar reasons, but still so different."

"You…were pushed away by others, I…saw myself in a way that meant I shouldn't be close to others. I think...I think I understand."

"Yes," said Tatsumaki. "I…did find reasons to dislike myself, but not as intense as some of the stuff you mentioned. I figured my way of life had to be right, had to be correct for me and my sister. But I was wrong."

"Huh," said Secter.

"And you misinterpreted yours," said Tatsumaki. "You're not a failure, I promise."

"I'm…still not sure on that."

"Oh come on!" said Tatsumaki, tears beginning to form at the bottoms of her eyes. "Don't sell yourself short like that! You don't deserve that kind of label! You're the greatest thing in the world to me Secter, and don't let anyone make you think otherwise!"

Secter gave a quiet laugh, one which Tatsumaki couldn't tell was of joy or sadness.

"You're too good to me, Tats," said Secter. "Too good."

"You deserve someone like me," said Tatsumaki. "I know that makes me sound kind of egotistical, but what I'm trying to say-"

"I know," said Secter. "You think I deserve happiness."

"You do! You really do!"

"I think you do too."

"Well, you're here, so I'm happy. My sister's getting along better, so I'm happy. But what would really make me happy is if you told me, right here and now, that you think that you deserve happiness and are a good person. If you told me that, I'd…I'd…"

"You'd what?"

"I'd kiss you so hard your head will spin," said Tatsumaki. "Does that sound good?"

"…yes."

"Well?"

Secter sighed, his eyes cast to the floor. Tatsumaki drooped in her seat.

"Well…I'm still going to anyways," she said. "And even if you struggle with it, I think you deserve it."

"Thanks, Tatsu," said Secter. "I've just…thought about myself this way for a long time. I've always been keeping people away from my personal stuff. Helping them from a distance, if I could, and never coming in close. You're much closer to me than anyone, and I mean _anyone,_ ever has been. And I'm glad it was you, you really feel like my soulmate sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"All of the time."

"I'm on your phone."

"You're also in my heart," said Secter. "Man, that sounded a bit better in my head."

"I think it's fine, the corniness suits you," said Tatsumaki. "One of the things I love about you, you're not afraid to be yourself."

Secter smiled, rubbing the back of his head with a tired hand.

"Yeah, yeah I always did keep my personality out there," said Secter. "But this lab…is that what you wanted to destroy?"

"Yes…" said Tatsumaki. "I know it's still there, because I found an old building and went down one time. Found it by accident. I didn't react so well."

"And you want to go back, to destroy it."

"I think of it like closure," said Tatsumaki. "Wipe that wretched place off the map. I don't know if I could've done it before, going back down there alone gives me the creeps. But I think with you, I could do it. Now's as good a time as any, since we're changing ourselves and all that."

"If you want to," said Secter. "I'll go down there with you. If this is really what you want."

"It is," said Tatsumaki. "And thank you, Secter. I might never be able to repay you."

"Pssht, as if you had to repay me," said Secter.

"Well," said Tatsumaki, a weak smile on her face. "Just stay close to me down there, alright? It's dark, and confusing, and I don't want to get lost."

"I'll be right by your side, Tatsu."

They left the house, a light snow dusting the ground outside. It didn't take long for them to find the entrance to the old lab, a gaping black maw that led down into the dark soul of the Earth. The remnants of what seemed to be a bunker surrounded the abyss, foretelling the past time of those deep within the soil eventually finding their doom despite attempts to hide from it. Secter grimaced at the sight, Tatsumaki right beside him. She stared down into the ground, her eyes grey and cold. Squeezing Secter's hand, she started off into the place without him, Secter quickly following behind. As they entered, a cold rush of icy air swept by them, and Secter swallowed, unease clouding his thoughts. Tatsumaki remained just ahead of him, going further and further until she was gone.

. . .

Another ship. This one crashed directly into the ground, digging deeper and deeper until it was half-submerged in rock ad soil. The sleek silver spaceship remained at rest, not a bit of it stirring until someone emerged from an opening in the side. This being, who carried with him a small wooden crate, stepped out from the catastrophe of a ship, and jumped down from his angled perch. He stumbled forward from the wreckage, slumping down against a ruined wall opposite the crash. Setting the crate next to him, he let out a long sigh.

The being was tall, about seven and a half feet. A captain's hat adorned his head, gray with a black brim. An officer's overcoat adorned his body, just as grey as the hat, except for the dull yellow stains that were splattered over the chest, back, arms and lower part of the coat. Specks of crimson were present all over his sleeves, especially near the hands. The coat itself, long enough to reach his ankles but split into a top part and a bottom part by a dark sash around his waist had several deep gashes along the front, as if the being had been fighting with massive lions just the day prior. Shiny, dark boots became the focus of his vision, and flickering black flames fanned out from the back of his overcoat, never damaging the clothes they touched and failing to respond to the winds around him. But what might've been most noticeable about the being was his face, or rather, the mask that hid it. It hung from the top of his head near the brim of his hat all the way past his jawline, a creamy white color that looked like ceramic. It remained in pieces across his face, like a shattered mirror that someone had tried to glue back together but couldn't quite get the pieces to fit. Each part of the mask was separated by dark black lines, a web of abysses across his face. Not a bit of the mask shivered or moved as the No-Faced Commandant leaned his head from side to side. He rubbed at the several charcoal black spines which protruded from the back of his neck through his shadowy skin before getting back up.

"Ahhh, but one more thing," he said. Not a soul was around.

Clambering back into his ship, he retrieved a small bag which he latched around his opposite arm with a strap, and an elongated shotgun, several glowing lights pulsating yellow all around the barrel, the chamber, and near the grip. He slung the shotgun over his back, and with a dull glowing light emanating from the point of contact with his coat, it attached to the other side of his overcoat without so much as a backpack to keep it in place.

"All set," said the Commandant. "Now…to find you."

He grabbed his crate, pulling it and his bag into a nearby alley and setting them down. Patting the top of the crate with a single shadowy hand, he withdrew his long fingers from the object and left to go deeper into a nearby city. He found his way into crowds fast, and received looks of terror and confusion as he strode amongst small groups of people. One person caught his eye, a dour looking man in a suit enjoying a cup of coffee at a bus stop. The Commandant approached, and everyone else on the bench scattered. The businessman looked up, but all too late. The Commandant was here.

"Dear citizen," said the Commandant. "I have a question for you."

"Uh," said the man. Sweat began to form tiny beads along his brow.

"Do you happen to know a degenerate by the name of Secter?" asked the Commandant. "He is tall, black hair, should be…late twenties…"

"Never heard of him, mister," said the man. "Say, are you a hero? Or a monster…"

"Me?" asked the Commandant. "I am a cautionary tale, dear citizen. Don't follow my-" He let out a soft noise, something between a cough and a gurgle. "Example."

"Riiight," said the man. "I'm just going to go now."

"Wait!" said the Commandant, reaching out for the man. The businessman recoiled from the Commandant's touch.

"My…apologies," said the Commandant. "But would you know anyone who might've heard of this man. He is a danger to society."

"I…don't know man, I'm not that popular," said the businessman. "Please don't hurt me."

"I have no intention of that," said the Commandant. "Carry on, dear citizen."

The businessman scurried away, looking back at the strange officer.

"Your bus!" said the Commandant. "You will miss it!"

The man paid him no mind, hurrying through the throngs of people. The Commandant could hear him shouting something about heroes as he went.

 _Of course, the hero planet,_ thought the Commandant. _Perhaps they will know. I will find him. I will._

Finding a group of heroes was easy, and they stared at the approaching Commandant, unease in their eyes.

"Careful," said one of the heroes. "Stick close."

"You sure this one is a monster?" asked another, this one surrounded by floating chains. "He could be human…"

"Not a chance in hell," said the other hero. "I mean…look at him."

"His arms," came the third hero, a man in a ridiculous outfit wielding a giant hammer. "Look at his arms."

"You three," said the Commandant, pointing at the assembled group. "I am looking for someone. Surely with your status, you can help me."

"That depends," said the hero with a massive flail over his back. "Who are you looking for, and why?"

"A man named Secter," said the Commandant. "I am on my own mission."

"Secter?" asked the flail-man. The Commandant mind-searched them all, their names becoming apparent to him. What bothered him was a particular day that stood out in their memories, where they all spoke to some invisible being. Their words on that day he could hear, but no responses nor any person could be seen in those particular memories.

 _A Soulless or a Volunteer,_ thought the Commandant. _The only reason I can't see that person in their memories_. _It must be him._

"We knew him once," said Mei. "And that stuff you hear about him sometimes, it isn't true. He's really nice!"

"Yeah, he fixed up our wounds once and tried to get some people to notice us," said Rikuto. "He seems like a swell guy."

Ori nodded in agreement, his hands drawn behind his back.

"You all agree to this," said the Commandant. "Are you…allies of his?"

"Well, we're all heroes," said Rikuto. "So yeah, I'd say so."

 _Heroes,_ thought the Commandant.

The Commandant rushed forward, snatching Rikuto by the throat. Lifting him high into the air, the Commandant snarled at the helpless hero, whose face turned redder by the minute.

"Hang on, I'm coming!" yelled Mei. She whipped her chains around her in a fierce storm of metal, each one rearing back like steel serpents ready to strike. "Chain Combo Strik-"

The Commandant raised his free hand at her, and both of Mei's arms blew apart. Chunks of red and white splattered all over a nearby wall, and Mei sunk to the ground, her eyes turning as pale as her face. The chains all around her wilted like dying vines.

"Mei…" gasped Rikuto. "Sweetie…"

Ori gasped at the sudden assault but charged forward nonetheless.

"Don't…" sputtered Rikuto. "Hurt them…"

"You made your position clear," said the Commandant. Whereas before his voice had been calm and collected, now it was full of hate so deep one could get lost in it. Venom seeped through every word that barked from his mouth. "You are accomplices to the enemy."

Ori's hammer came swinging in from the side, a giant hunk of metal hurling to connect with the Commandant's ribcage. It did so, but instead of smashing the Soulless to pieces, the hammer melted away at the point of contact, iron turning to molten liquid as the weapon peeled away into two separate melty blocks. Ori's eyes widened in fear as his entire weapon ceased to be a solid and formed into a puddle around the Commandant.

Thrusting Rikuto into a nearby building, the Commandant turned towards Ori, who brought up both his hands to fight. The Commandant struck first, and Ori's face caved in from a single swing by the Commandant. Blubbering and sputtering, Ori fell to the ground, sitting in a dazed position. But the Commandant did not stop, instead beating Ori again and again, each punch landing squarely into the poor hero's face.

"I didn't want to do things like this," said the Commandant. "But you people don't learn! You never learn! Why don't you learn?! Why associate with degenerates? It will only bring you down…"

Ori's face resembled red velvet pudding, chunky and bubbling within a stew of scarlet. Teeth floated around in the hole that was once Ori's mouth, and the Commandant looked at his own hand, coated in blood and chunks of mucus and flesh. He grumbled as he lowered himself over Ori.

"Perhaps I am too harsh," said the Commandant. From behind him, he could hear Rikuto stumbling around despite the broken ribs and shattered leg he had received from the impact. "But the enemy must learn. There…can only be two. But where will I fit? I will not. I will end here. And that will make up for my mistakes." He drew a glowing knife and slid the blade across Ori's throat to end the man for good.

The Commandant rose from his position. Looking around him, he wasn't sure what he felt in seeing the three broken heroes. It wasn't pride, but it wasn't guilt either. Perhaps it was nothing.

"Let that be a warning," he said, chuckling. "If you really are so closely tied with Secter, perhaps you won't be now. Hahahaha. Let him know, if you see him again. I will find him."

He left the three of them there alone, listening as screams sounded off in the distance as he withdrew back to his ship.


	9. Chapter 9

"There," said Tatsumaki, pointing at a seat sitting upright amongst the cluttered and smashed machinery in the dark. "It's…still in its spot."

"What is it?" asked Secter. He swiped at a cobweb, tearing it away from his face and inevitably getting it wrapped around his fingers.

"Hated that machine," said Tatsumaki. "They'd strap me to the chair, and put some weird helmet on me with wires on it. Made me feel all lethargic for a while, and then it would start to hurt. They said they were testing how my brain reacted to certain waves or something. All I knew was that it shocked me again and again, and so I came to _hate_ this stupid thing." She grabbed the back of the metal chair, her hair floating up as psychic energy crackled all around her.

"They…treated you like a lab rat," said Secter. "And this was the place…"

"It wasn't as dark back then, obviously," said Tatsumaki. "But it was just as cold. Just as…lonely. Hated it, hated it so much." Shivering, Tatsumaki sent the chair flying to the other side of the room, smiling as the seat broke into pieces after impacting with the wall.

"Feels good," she said. "To finally come back. To destroy this place."

"You planning on taking the whole place down?" asked Secter. "What's the deal here?"

Tatsumaki looked over at Secter, who ceased the flinging of his right hand as her eyes met his.

"Pretty much," said Tatsumaki. "You want to help?"

"Sure," said Secter. "To be honest, I really don't like this place either."

"It's tough being here," said Tatsumaki. "Every second I'm here just…" Violent shudders overcame her entire body, and Secter stepped in close to lay a hand on her shoulder.

"This place was the epitome of wrongs done to you," said Secter. "It hurt you more than anything else, even if you didn't know at the time. It makes sense for it to be difficult for you to be back here, because this…" He gestured to the entirety of the room, one hand sweeping through the darkness. "This is what started it all."

"I felt so worthless as a person here," said Tatsumaki. "Couldn't get out, couldn't kill that monster, just sat and let them test on me. I couldn't let myself think that way when I got out, had to find something different."

"And so you want this place gone, because it reminds you of those feelings," said Secter. "That's completely fair, Tatsu. This place doesn't need to exist anymore. No one is going to try and make you feel the way you did back then again, I'll make damn sure of it."

Tatsumaki felt tears welling up in her eyes. Every rub of her eyelids only made them sting. She couldn't describe the amount of love she felt for this man, but everything came bubbling to the surface there and then.

"Thanks Secter," said Tatsumaki. "You're mine, by the way. No one else can take you from me. You're mine, forever." She sniffled, grumbling at the mucus which ended up on the sleeve of her dress.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Secter. "And we're together, Tatsu. I don't have interest in anyone else like I do you."

"You always know what to say," said Tatsumaki, the front of her wrist finding a watery eye. "You're always so good at cheering me up."

"Most of time, I guess I know what to say," said Secter. "But hey, I do my best."

"Nah, you're pretty good at it. And let's…let's keep going."

"Is…there more to see?"

"Most of this place is destroyed," said Tatsumaki. "Fell apart after the monster came through. But there is one place that's deeper. One place that I couldn't go down to, after I came back."

Secter knelt down to be at Tatsumaki's eye level, her watching him every step of the way.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" asked Secter. "Because you don't have to go down there if you don't want to. We can just blast this place from afar, you don't have to-"

Her arms reaching out to rest on Secter's shoulders, Tatsumaki shook her head.

"It's…what I want," she said. "You'll…come with me, right?"

"Of course I will."

The two of them moved away, and Secter followed Tatsumaki down a vine-encrusted corridor, beacons of sunlight shining through various gaps in the ceiling. They passed more broken-down screens and machinery, none of which looked like it had been operational for years. Secter felt a growing sense of unease fall from his chest to his stomach, as if someone had dropped a bowling ball directely into his gut. In front of them was a doorway, nothing but pitch black beyond.

"This is it," said Tatsumaki.

"What is it?" asked Secter.

"You'll see."

Tatsumaki ventured further and further into the darkness below, until nothing remained. Secter followed suit, but despite hearing her footsteps, could not find her. Then, massive green tubes came into view. Arranged in a row, each one lay flat on the ground atop metal supports, bubbling and fizzing and glowing in the dark. Tatsumaki's silhouette was outlined against the glowing green, a long sigh emanating from her position.

"I was worried for a long time…" said Tatsumaki. "That one day, I'd turn to the side and see my sis in one of these."

"What…are these things, Tatsu?" asked Secter.

"They kept me in one," said Tatsumaki. "Felt like drowning. But they wouldn't let me out, and it wasn't as if I could speak."

"Wha…why?"

"I don't know. I asked why I had to go in there, and sometimes I even tried to fight, but they always got me in. They told me it would only be a few more times, that they just needed a few more results, but they never asked what I thought of it. Never thought that the test subject was hurting, just saw me as a means to an end."

"Christ, Tatsu…they were using you like an object-" Secter cut himself short.

"Yeah, that's a good way to put it," said Tatsumaki. She looked cold, wrapping her arms around herself as if the room were freezing. Her frame shrunk amongst the darkness, doubling over as if she were retching. Secter was over to her in no time, one arm around her back and the other covering her stomach.

"Tatsu, you ok?" he asked. "Tatsu?"

Tatsumaki moaned, a pitiful sound dripping with pain and despair.

"You're not there, Tatsu," said Secter. "Listen to me, you're not there."

Tatsumaki edged closer to Secter, her body leaning against his side. Secter could feel the warmth of her next to him, her chest shuddering as she took in stuttered breaths.

"Can barely breathe," said Tatsumaki. "Can't breathe."

"Tatsumaki you're here with me now," said Secter. "You're not there, you're not back there. I'm here, listen to my voice. Turn towards me."

Every inch her head moved was a grave effort for Tatsumaki, the shimmering lime liquids of the tanks sloshing around as she moved. Tatsumaki gasped for air, the life being sucked out of her by some unknown and invisible demon which squeezed her lungs tight.

"Agh, can't…breathe," said Tatsumaki. "I'm…trying."

Secter pulled her gaze away from the tanks, swerving so that the two of them would be facing the back wall.

"We're leaving," said Secter. "There's no reason to stay."

Tatsumaki's breathing was sharp and heavy, her eyes turning yellow from the sudden asphyxiation.

"I'm sorry…you had to…see me like this," said Tatsumaki. "I…reacted real bad, didn't I?"

"It's alright," said Secter. "I promise, it's alright."

"It's stupid," said Tatsumaki, as the two of them huddled together while heading back up the stairs. "For me to act like this. It was years ago."

"But it hurt you for much longer," said Secter. "It's ok, Tatsu, for you to feel like this."

"I…don't like it."

"Trust me, I didn't like it either. But to feel vulnerable is to be human, and what happened down there…it was a lot for you. We're going to make this better, you and I."

"You…" said Tatsumaki. "I know I'm not worthless, but I never wanted to let you see this kind of thing either."

"What did you expect was gonna happen?"

"I'm not sure…I just didn't expect it all to come back like that."

"You went to the very place where you attribute all this pain, a place you haven't been in years. It makes sense, especially if you kept it all stowed away, for it to resurface like that."

"I know, but it was so…unreasonable."

"It really wasn't. That's how a lot of people act when they go back to things they attribute a lot of pain to. But you came back here, wanting to move on from your past. That takes real strength, Tatsu. To try and move on, not let the old ways drag you down."

"You have to do the same."

Secter and Tatsumaki reached the top of the staircase, Secter reeling in discomfort over Tatsumaki's last quip.

"I…I know," said Secter. "Like I said, it will be hard for us both."

"But we'll be there for each other," said Tatsumaki. "Every…step-"

They re-entered the hallway, the last of the staircase behind them.

"Of the way," said Secter. "That's what couples are for, to be there for each other and make each person into better people. And I think we make a pretty good one."

"Let's destroy this place, Secter," said Tatsumaki. "I don't want to see it anymore."

"Let's."

The two of them headed outside, Tatsumaki's breathing returning to normal as she took in the fresh night air. Standing side by side, Tatsumaki raised her arms to lift the crumbling roof off of the bunker, grass and concrete falling as it rose into the air. Secter kept his arm level, his hand balled into a fist pointed at the former entrance to the hellhole.

"On three," said Secter.

Tatsumaki nodded.

"One," he said.

"Two," she said.

"Three!"

The roof came smashing down onto the base of the underground lab, crushing everything in its path. Tatsumaki brought the roof up and crashed it down again, doing so twice more while her back arched. Eyes full of insane fury, she lifted the debris one more time before smashing it down onto the base again. Breathing quick, shallow breaths, she landed next to Secter.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I'm…good," said Tatsumaki. "Go for it."

Secter unfurled his fingers, unleashing a yellow beam of energy which swallowed the entirety of the lab. When the beam disappeared, Tatsumaki realized that the building had gone with it.

"Is it…all gone?" she asked.

"Yep," said Secter. "Every bit."

"Even the-"

"Even the tubes."

Tatsumaki nodded. Her hand found his.

"Thank you, Secter, for doing this with me," said Tatsumaki. "It really…means a lot."

"What, did you think I wouldn't come with you?"

"Well no, but I'm just glad you did anyways."

Secter smiled at her. The woman who he loved smiled back.

"I never would've left you alone for something like that," said Secter. "Like a wise woman once told me, you're worth my time."

Chuckling, Tatsumaki squeezed Secter's hand.

"Yes, she was wise, wasn't she," said Tatsumaki.

"I look up to her every day," said Secter.

"And if she were around, I'd imagine she'd say something similar. Hell, she'd probably even say that she wants to bring you home, to be honest."

Secter's smirked, but his face burned.

"I think…that's a good idea," he said. "Your place or mine?"

"Let's go to my place this time," said Tatsumaki. "My treat."

"You do have a big tv," said Secter.

"And a big bed," said Tatsumaki.

 _Holy shit,_ thought Secter.

"Oh, uh, right," said Secter. His face felt hotter than the surface of the sun.

"To sleep in," said Tatsumaki, seemingly catching on to Secter's nervousness. A wave of embarrassment filled her very soul and sputtered out through her mouth. "You know, for us to sleep in. We uh, we can just relax for now, that's what I meant."

"Right, right," said Secter. Cooling off, he wiped the sweat from his brow and followed Tatsumaki as she began to walk. "It's cool, I get what you meant."

"But maybe one day…" said Tatsumaki.

"Hmm?"

"Just thinking," said Tatsumaki. "Let's go home. Tired."

"Right, yeah. Me too."

. . .

The No-Faced Commandant slumped back down against a nearby wall, his hands finding the leather satchel and the crate he had laid in the alleyway beforehand. He stuffed a gnarled claw into his bag, finding an ovular object with dark checkered cracks all over it. Rubbing the surface of the grenade, he let it lie back inside the bag before turning over to his crate. The top came off easily, the hinges creaking as they had done so many times before under the stress of the wooden top flipping over. Inside were layers and layers of syringes, each one filled to the brim with blood-red liquid. The Commandant let out a moan of joy, and began to reach for one of the needles. A voice in the near distance stopped him short.

"Careful guys, it could be anywhere," came a husky voice from nearby. "Monster attacked three heroes not far from here."

"What did it look like?" came another.

"Overcoat, captain's hat or something," said the first. "We-"

The Commandant was upon them, towering over the new group of three like a skyscraper would to a measly pedestrian. He snarled at them, watching as the three stumbled backward at his sudden appearance. One of them had black, messy hair, and a gatling gun adorning his arm. Another wore a massive pair of sunglasses. The third wore a tanktop, streaks of yellow and black fettered across it.

"Careful with this one," said the gatling hero. "He's killed one."

"Oh you're dead, asshole," said the tanktop man. "And I got Black Hole on backup, so don't think you're going anywhere."

The sunglasses man said nothing, instead only nervously tugging at the collar of his over-sized coat.

"Heroes?" asked the Commandant. "A hero would tell me this: why is Secter considered one of you?"

"Who?" asked Death Gatling. Their names were all revealed through the Commandant's mind-searches.

"He's not!" yelled Tanktop Tiger. "He's a phony, and a coward!"

"Yes!" yelled the Commandant. "Now that's more like it! Here's a real hero!" He pointed to the tanktop man, who froze in surprise.

"He helped me before…" said Cool Glasses. "Didn't seem so bad to me."

"Do not associate with him," said the Commandant. "Lest you become the enemy. I can't believe…he would thrive like this. He does not deserve it! Neither of us deserve it…"

"Listen here, you cretin," said Death Gatling. "I'm going to blow you away, I don't care what you have to say about him or anybody else."

" _Fire,_ " said the Commandant.

"Happy to oblige," said Death Gatling. His weapon twirled and spun in a deadly dance, raining bullets directly into the Commandant's abdomen. Smoke and debris was sent flying in all directions from the hail of fire, while Cool Glasses watched in horror as every bullet collided with the Commandant's chest before falling to the ground in a pathetic display.

"It's like…he's a wall or something," said Cool Glasses. "Gatling, look! The bull-"

The firing stopped. Tanktop Tiger, watching the action with arms crossed, raised an eyebrow at the sudden ceasing of the bullets. Turning back to where Gatling once stood, he was instead treated to the Commandant, whose hands were dripping red.

"What the-" said Tanktop Tiger.

The Commandant sped up in front of him, lifting the terrified man up with bloodied hands.

"All hail, a more reasonable man," said the Commandant. Fingers digging into the man's chest, the Commandant lifted the struggling hero even higher. "Feels like this place must be insane sometimes, and yet you show a degree of reasonableness despite being so idiotic."

"Let me down!" yelled Tanktop Tiger. "Gla-Glasses! Do something!"

"You will live," said the Commandant. "Those who hate that man as much as I do are surely allies. A dear citizen, indeed."

"Uh…uh," said Cool Glasses, shrinking away from the Commandant. "You…back offa him!"

The Commandant flung Tanktop Tiger away, the man's hulking body crashing into a nearby dumpster. Blood began to seep out of the back of his head, warm and frothy.

"Nonetheless," said the Commandant. "Still in my way. Do yourself a favor, Tiger, and keep yourself out of my path. Otherwise you will die. Make no mistake. You will die."

Tanktop Tiger was rubbing the back of his head, eyes darting around frantically looking for backup. Cool Glasses was there, but offered no solace to his fear.

"As for you," said the Commandant, turning back to the cowering man with the oversized eyewear. "An ally of his."

"No, no, I just met him once, I just met him once!" yelled Cool Glasses, wrapping his hands over his head as if it were to offer him any semblance of protection. This proved to be untrue.

The Commandant kneed Glasses in the stomach, causing the hero to let out a sharp cry as he doubled over. Groaning on the ground, Cool Glasses looked up at the monstrosity that stood before him, not a hint of an expression to be seen through his drooping mask.

"I think you broke…something," said Cool Glasses. "Ohhhhh."

"It breaks my heart to see such well-intentioned people stoop so low," said the Commandant. "Do you really know nothing of the outside world? Was the war…unknown to you?"

"War?" asked Glasses.

"Ah, I should've known," said the Commandant. "No one seems to know. So perhaps…you don't know the picture. It would make sense to me. Even still…"

A boot came flying down onto Cool Glasses' face, smashing both nose and eyewear alike. Cool Glasses screamed as his nose caved into his face, his nostrils filling with blood as they collapsed in on themselves. Snorting did nothing to clear the way for air out of his destroyed nose, and Cool Glasses could feel shards of glass moving around in his face as he struggled to breathe.

"So odd," said the Commandant. "You act like you're not used to this…death, and violence. And yet you must fight all the time. Yet death? No…not a custom for you."

Cool Glasses sputtered. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the blackened hole that adorned the center of it.

"I'll tell you, where I come from, it was every day for me," said the Commandant. He knelt down close, his mask inches away from the broken hero's. "Every day. And it was not always so clear, who should die. Oftentimes I would feel terrible afterwards, and sometimes I would feel nothing, and sometimes I would smile. But it was every day, that was the rough part. And then it wasn't so rough."

"I…I…don't know…" said Cool Glasses.

"Yes, you haven't been up there," said the Commandant. "Or even heard of our struggle. But the enemy still lives, in many forms." The Commandant reeled back, and gestured to the front of his overcoat, scratches and splotches and all.

"How do you think I got all of this?" asked the Commandant. "It wasn't from painting, I can tell you that. Hahahaha."

"Help…" said Cool Glasses. He snorted again, blood shooting up like a geyser from the middle of his face.

"And yet the worst enemy…oh he dwells here," said the Commandant. "Somewhere. And yet you people, you degenerates, you already have the gall to call him…a _hero_? He can't be. He must die. And so should I, but he will die with me."

"Black Hole, help…" said Cool Glasses.

"A moment," said the Commandant, holding up a finger. He whipped around, his gaze setting on another burly tanktopped man crouching over the wounded hero by the dumpster.

"That's him," said Tanktop Tiger, pointing to the Commandant. "Get him!"

"He's too strong," said Tanktop Black Hole. "We gotta get outta here!"

"No way!" yelled Tanktop Tiger. "We beat him, and we'll move up a class for sure!"

"I don't know…" said Black Hole. "But…maybe you're right!"

The Commandant appeared before them, the two tanktopped heroes jolting in place as the bloodied officer seemed to move several feet in the blink of an eye.

"You two," said the Commandant. "Squabbling together. Reminds me of some of those way back up there, ahh, reminds me of a certain time where I met a couple of Soulless competing to become a new warlord. Ahh, as if there weren't enough already."

"The hell you talking about, warlord?" asked Tanktop Tiger. "We're just going to kick your ass!" He winced as he felt the gash on the back of his head, deep enough for him to fit the length of his finger inside.

"Fuck," muttered Tanktop Tiger. "You're gonna pay for this."

"I will pay," said the Commandant. "I know how."

 _This guy's speaking in complete nonsense,_ thought Black Hole. _What kind of a monster is he? What threat level?_

"You two remind me of some idiots back up there," said the Commandant. "In the end, I killed one and had to put the other out of his misery. The loser of the fight, he would've been burned alive had he lived. Ultimately they wanted to kill me, since I was an outsider to their competition, but, haha, I knew the way out. No groups would be made for me that day."

"What the hell are you talking about," said Black Hole.

"Ah, it's no use, isn't it," said the Commandant. "We come from very different places. Perhaps I shouldn't expect you to understand."

"Tiger, I'll need your help for this," said Black Hole. "Where's Gatling? He should be here…"

"I don't know man, he bolted or something," said Tanktop Tiger.

"He ran?" asked Black Hole. "That doesn't sound like him."

"I don't know, he's gone," said Tanktop Tiger. "Let's just get this guy!"

The Commandant flexed his shoulders, circling his back muscles again and again as if to ready himself to strike.

"You can try and fight me, but I am too well-versed in the subject," said the Commandant. "You will get nowhere."

Black Hole squared himself up. As he readied himself, a fist came running through his stomach, the man impaled via a column of grey. Black Hole grunted, before looking down. Dread overcame him, washing over his body as blood and slimy pieces of flesh and intestines were retracted out from his mid-section by the Commandant's retreating hand. He would not stare for long, as the Commandant ripped off a piece of a rusted metal from the dumpster and brought it through Black Hole's face. A sheet of skin peeled clean off as the Commandant tore the makeshift dinner plate sized blade down the right side of Black Hole's face. The Commandant withdrew the blade just as the section of skin was about to be shorn off, leaving it dangling from its newfound perch. Red muscle and tendons were open to all the world to see, and the Commandant restricted this view by kicking Black Hole in the chest, sending him to the ground. Landing on his stomach, Black Hole smashed into the pavement, tiny gurgling sounds replacing his earlier gasps of shock.

"Black Hole!" shouted Tanktop Tiger. His attempt to get up was cut short by the Commandant gripping the man's entire head in one hand and smashing the back of it against the dumpster. Tanktop Tiger went out like a candle in a hurricane.

"Very different," said the Commandant. "There is no struggle here. Hmm."

He peered back at Cool Glasses, who had managed to bring himself to his feet.

"Those two will live," said the Commandant. "They paid for being foolish, but they are not the enemy. Haha, that one-" He pointed back at Tanktop Tiger. "Even insulted the main enemy, he did. I will appreciate that one. But you?"

The Commandant turned his finger over to Cool Glasses.

"You will not stay," he said.

He curled his finger upwards. Cool Glasses began to cough, sputtering and shaking uncontrollably. Something deep inside him twisted and turned, his very insides changing into gnarled knots of organs and tissues. Cool Glasses tried to scream, but when he opened his mouth, no air came out. Instead, he saw the top of a ball of red emerging from his mouth, bleeding as it scraped the tops of his teeth. Out came his liver, followed by his stomach, then his lungs, each one connected to each other by veiny strands of tissue. Cool Glasses sputtered as he watched a string of organs float out from his mouth, his insides feeling empty as every major organ was released into the air. With the heart popping out at the end of the strand, Cool Glasses collapsed to the ground.

The Commandant dropped his finger, and the organs followed suit, squishing as they hit the dirt.

. . .

It was nearing nightfall, and the No-Faced Commandant brushed himself off. Sitting down next to his beloved crate, he withdrew a needle and stuck it in his arm, gasping as the red juices flooded the wound he had made. Then he shot another in the same place. Then another. Then another. Then another. Then he lost track.

 _A great hurrah!_ he thought. _What a fucking sendoff. Ugh, if this kills me…it can't…I've had this much before haven't I? No, don't die! Don't die you idiot, Secter has to die too! He has to know! Unless he's already dead…but no, probably not. He's probably laughing it up in some mansion or something by now, millions at his side…no, that's not possible. That's not reality. It can't be. He's too much like me, that degenerate scumbag moronic piece of shit. That fuckface! Where is he? I'll kill him! I'll hunt him down and kill him! It will save me, and my own death will seal the deal. If those I've wronged can forgive me, certainly they will after all this. And certainly, that degenerate will agree with me. And if not…well, he'll meet his end. They'll all meet their ends, if they side with him. I don't care, they're the enemy now. I can't believe people would side with him, why…_

The ground laughed at him as he tried to get up, and somehow, he recognized the voice. It was one from long ago, a person not unfamiliar to him in his dreams. Yet he had forgotten the name of this person. This was why the Commandant needed to die.

Stumbling around, he noticed the sky had turned bright red, and the buildings had bent themselves out of shape, swaying and shaking in the wind like weeds long uncut. He limped over to the grey lump in the ground that was his ship, his legs carrying him even when he wasn't sure he wanted to go. In the distance, he spotted a man with a slit throat, wearing some bright orange costume. This was why the Commandant needed to die.

 _But he was with the enemy,_ thought the Commandant. _Surely, this is an exception. Isn't it? It must be! It is._

The hull of the ship melted away at his touch, like molten putty in his hands. For some reason, the Commandant stared down at the steel, thinking it the most refreshing liquid imaginable. He tossed it onto his face, but could only groan in despair when it splashed harmlessly across his mask. He reached in for another scoop, the inside of the ship visible to him now. Four pink lumps, each one pockmarked with dark circles, writhed and whimpered at his presence. The Commandant gasped, stumbling back from the bloody masses within his ship. Perhaps above most of all, this was why the Commandant needed to die.

 _Soon,_ he thought. _Soon. But don't tell me your son wasn't similar. Don't tell me he wasn't so different. I…I hate to say it, but it's true. But it seems he doesn't want to end yet, I don't think. He is wrong. He must die too._

No response from the ship. In truth, the Commandant felt like dying right at that very moment, the pain in his head and stomach becoming unbearable. It felt like a drill piercing into his brain every few seconds. His abdomen fared no better, rising and falling as the miniscule contents of his stomach churned and rose through his windpipe. All around him, voices sounded off from swaying buildings, from a contorted ground made from flesh, and even from the red skies above.

If a bystander were to come upon the Commandant at this time, all they would've seen was a man in an overcoat, crouching over his buried ship and holding a hand to stifle the vomit that was seeping through the cracks in his mask.

Eventually the Commandant gave up trying and collapsed down the side of his ship onto the dirt. He blacked out as the moon rose.

. . .

Secter admired the glass case which enshrined a tennis ball, standing proudly in Tatsumaki's bedroom. The case had been cleaned to perfection, not a spot of dirt blemishing the glass square which housed the green gift. Secter sat at the edge of Tatsumaki's bed, glancing over the rest of her room. When he tried to move, he felt a hand wrap around his midsection.

"Nooo," muttered Tatsumaki. "Cold. Just a little more."

Secter peered over at the alarm clock, which showed a time of 8:13 a.m.

"Alright," he said. "A little more."

He wrapped himself back under the covers, pressing himself against Tatsumaki and pulling her into his chest. She curled down beneath him, burying her face against the base of his neck.

"Mmph," said Tatsumaki. "Warm."

"You have any plans for today?" asked Secter. Tatsumaki's hair made for the resting point of his chin.

"Mmm, not really," said Tatsumaki. "Might meet with sister. Why?"

"Just wondering," said Secter. "Would like to do something nice and relaxing soon. Maybe go to the beach or something."

"But it's cold…" said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah, that's true," said Secter. "Well…shit, I'm out of ideas."

"That was it? You only had one?"

"Hang on, I've got it! We could stay at home and make smores out of a fire pit or something."

"No yelling."

"Ah, I'm not being that loud."

"You're kind of loud."

"Not that loud."

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. "The smores thing sounds nice though. Close to home and such. Don't really feel like going anywhere."

"Yeah, now that I think about it me either," said Secter. "Gotta get up soon, though."

"Not now," said Tatsumaki. "Still sleepy."

"You can sleep for as long as you want, but I'm gonna get up soon."

"Nooo, staaay," said Tatsumaki. "It's better when you're here."

"Well, you can follow me after I've gotten up then," said Secter.

"Fine," grumbled Tatsumaki. She somehow managed to bury herself deeper into Secter's chest cavity. He could feel her breathing against his neck, steady and calm.

"I'll be here for a bit though," said Secter. Yawning, he closed his eyes and began to fall back into a deep slumber. "Just a bit…"

A couple of hours later, Tatsumaki kissed a sleeping Secter on the forehead and said a quiet goodbye as she left the bedroom.

"I figured an early start would kill you," she muttered. "Surprised you managed it yesterday. Hell, maybe that's why you're tired today."

Leaving the house, Tatsumaki met up with her sister, who had been walking up just in time to see the smaller esper exit through the front door.

"Hey sis," said Tatsumaki.

"Hey," said Fubuki. "You look kinda tired."

"It's a long story."

"Well, I've got time if you want to tell."

"I'll think about it. Not really stuff I want to talk about in public."

"Oh…" said Fubuki. "Did you…oh my God."

Tatsumaki eyed her sister with suspicion, before coming to a realization. Embarrassment flooded her face via a wave of burning red.

"No, no, it's not like that," said Tatsumaki. "We just went somewhere personal, is all."

"Oh, I gotcha," said Fubuki. "I see how it is." She gave a small wink to her sister, who glared at her from the porch.

"Why do you insist on making fun of me?" asked Tatsumaki.

"Oh come on sis, I was only teasing. I'm happy for you two."

"Yes, but it wasn't like that, it was something else."

"Ok, ok," said Fubuki. "I believe you. Like I said, I was only teasing."

"Let's just go," said Tatsumaki. "No more of this for now."

"Alright."

The psychic sisters made their way downtown, surrounded by bustling crowds of people dressed in colorful coats and fall dresses of all kinds. Tatsumaki headed past various busy eateries and convenience stores, filled to the brim with people hunched over from the cold but maintaining friendliness and smiles nonetheless. She followed her sister along a nearby road, occasionally stopping to look inside clothing stores, new restaurants, and at one point, a bookstore.

"Looking to read something, sis?" asked Fubuki.

"Just looking," said Tatsumaki. "I do read from time to time."

"Huh. I've never seen you do it."

"It's for quiet times, when I get bored."

"If it weren't for Secter being around, I'd imagine you'd be pretty bored right about now. Not many monsters have been showing up."

"Probably for the best," said Tatsumaki. "And yeah, Secter's kept me busy. Him and I do a lot of stuff. Lot of talking."

"Seemed like a lot of pretty personal stuff you guys talk about."

"It is, yeah. Don't worry, I'll tell you about some of it someday."

"Don't feel rushed, I'm just…curious."

Tatsumaki chuckled, her laugh playful but her thoughts serious.

"It's…not always fun stuff," said Tatsumaki. "Like I said, someday we-"

Tatsumaki stopped short. Ahead was a being in a stained overcoat, staring through the window of a café. It turned towards the two sisters, the dark flames fanning out from its back doing a good job of keeping the already weary people around the being at bay.

"What the hell…" said Fubuki. "Is that a monster?"

"I…I don't know," said Tatsumaki.

"Hey!" came a voice from a bystander in one of the crowds. "That thing attacked some heroes yesterday! Stay away from it!"

Panic began to set in, with people scattering from the creature. Some broke out into full sprints, while others took cover behind cars or nearby trash cans. This continued until some of the frightened observers noticed Tatsumaki, many of whom began to point at shout at her.

"It's the Tornado of Terror!" someone shouted. "She can help us!"

"Get the monster, Tatsumaki!" yelled another. "We believe in you!"

Tatsumaki glanced all around at the terrified citizens.

"We need to get this thing away from them," said Tatsumaki, turning back to her sister. "If we're going to kill it, we're probably going to cause some collateral damage."

"Well, how do you propose we do that?" asked Fubuki.

"I suggest you ask it first," said the Commandant.

Fubuki and Tatsumaki stumbled back in unison, shocked at the Commandant's sudden invasion of their space.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Tatsumaki.

 _Overcoat,_ she thought. _He's wearing an overcoat…what did Secter say again? This can't be one of them, could it?_

"I am a Commandant," said the being. "My name doesn't matter by this point."

"Fine, Commandant," snarled Tatsumaki. "If you've attacked some heroes, then you're about to get destroyed."

"You've got nowhere to go," said Fubuki. "But we suggest moving to someplace less occupied, unless you want to do it the hard way."

"That's fine by me," said the Commandant. "Absolutely fine. Here."

The three of them were in an abandoned alley now, no sounds of driving cars in the distance, and no voices of the panicked.

It took Fubuki a few seconds to realize what had happened. When she did, her eyes widened in shock and horror.

"Sis…" she said. "Did he just…"

"I think he did," said Tatsumaki. She looked up at her sister, her expression grave. "Sis, stay behind me. I get the feeling this guy is strong."

Fubuki gave a weak nod, but her fists were clenched as if she were ready to attack.

"Be ready to run if things go bad," said Tatsumaki. "We don't know what this thing is capable of."

"You're more of the heroes, correct?" shouted the Commandant. "There's so many of you…"

"Who did you attack?" yelled Fubuki in response.

"I killed a couple, their names lost as they should be," said the Commandant. "Lost to me anyways. They were a part of the problem here."

"He…" said Fubuki. Drawing her hand to her mouth, she could feel a fire rising from her stomach to her chest, fanning out like a burning phoenix within her soul. "He said he killed them."

"He's dead," said Tatsumaki. She began to raise one of her arms, fingers outstretched.

The Commandant, who had been standing on the other end of the alley, moved in closer, trashcans and floating plastic bags disintegrating to shiny dust in his wake.

Tatsumaki grunted, sweat pouring down the side of her head as she concentrated on her target. She tried and tried, yet the enemy striding towards her would not move, or even react to her efforts.

"Sis?" asked Fubuki. "He's closing in."

"I…can't…" said Tatsumaki. "He…won't move!"

"His will might be too strong," said Fubuki. "Try something else! I'll cover you!"

"No!" shouted Tatsumaki. "Stay behind me!"

The Commandant was close now, only a few arm-lengths away.

Tatsumaki went for a different move, swirling her psychic energies from within to lift chunks out of the nearby brick buildings around her. She expected the buildings to fall apart to her command, but instead, nothing happened.

"You won't be able to do a thing," said the Commandant. "Little one, what did you expect from this?"

"That's it," said Fubuki. "I'm going in, I have to-"

The Commandant ripped out a knife from one of the pockets on the side of his overcoat, and flung it at Fubuki. The blade moved quicker than Tatsumaki thought possible, to the extent where by the time she had noticed the Commandant had moved his hand to his side, the blade was already embedded in Fubuki's stomach.

"Ahh!" said Fubuki. Her hand shot down to where the knife had entered her midsection. She took a step back, shaking as she tried to staunch the blood that seeped from the wound. It flowed over her fingers, Fubuki's eyes bulging in shock from the sudden realization of how deep the knife went.

"Fubuki?" asked Tatsumaki, turning towards her stumbling sister. When she spotted the blade's hilt sticking out from her companion, she bolted towards the Commandant.

"You're fucking dead!" she screamed. Fury became her guiding essence, anger turned every vein in her temples to black scars across her face. The entire world felt as if it were burning away, the only target was to kill the Commandant, kill the man with the strange mask…

The Commandant smacked Tatsumaki away as if she were an insect. She collided into the side of a nearby building and was treated to a followup punch from the Commandant into her chest. Tatsumaki heard something crack and she groaned as she realized it wasn't the Commandant's knuckles shattering. Blood welled into her mouth, and Tatsumaki was dragged up by her hair, her head still reeling from the impact. The Commandant flung her over onto her back, still grasping her hair at the ends. Tatsumaki slammed onto the ground, the air being knocked out of her lungs.

Letting go of the esper's hair, the Commandant nodded at his newfound victory.

"Neither of you will die," he said. "As far as I know, you're not the enemy…oh! I didn't even ask. How moronic of me."

He leaned in over Tatsumaki, who struggled to get to her feet. To her surprise, the Commandant allowed her to stand without striking her.

Tatsumaki was standing upright now, her breathing heavy and one hand over her bottom lip poised to wipe away at the blood drizzling from her mouth. She got ready to try again, concentrating on just how badly she wanted to tear apart the towering monster with a psychic storm.

"Do you know a man named Secter?" asked the Commandant.

The images of a green tornado of energy faded. They were replaced by a cloud of fear.

"You…" said Tatsumaki. "Know him."

"A long time ago," said the Commandant. "He wronged us all, but then I made a mistake. I have come to fix my mistakes, redeem myself. And _end_ him, for his own good."

"You…you…" said Tatsumaki. No more words were coming to her. She looked back over at Fubuki, who was hyperventilating while leaned up against the side of a metal door.

"She needs help," said Tatsumaki. "I don't have time for this, I have to help my-"

A pair of hands enclosed around her throat, choking the air out of her. Tighter and tighter they went, until she could only gasp at the tiniest amount of oxygen she could possibly intake. To her absolute horror, she realized that it was her hands that were crushing her windpipe.

"Answer the question," said the Commandant. "And I'll let you free."

"I…know him," said Tatsumaki. Each word was punctuated with little gasps and wet sputters of blood.

"And?" asked the Commandant. "Neither of you have all day."

"You're a Soulless, aren't you?" asked Tatsumaki.

It was the Commandant's turn to be taken off guard. He tilted his head, suddenly curious at the choking specimen that stood before him.

"Why yes," said the Commandant. "How did you know? I don't recall them ever visiting this place, not to my knowledge…"

"He told me about you," said Tatsumaki. "About all of it."

"Really?" asked the Commandant. "What do you mean, all of it?"

"Everything. The war."

The Commandant gasped, more of delight than of surprise.

"You know?" asked the Commandant. "It seems so rare nowadays… How interesting, how very interesting!"

"You're a monster," said Tatsumaki. "If you are..." She let out a cough, regretting it after feeling the shuddering pain that followed. "A monster."

"Yes," said the Commandant. "I am a bad person. Not someone to follow, for certain. But I know how I can make things right. I have a goal, and am willing to do anything to see it achieved! And it starts with finding Secter, whom you know!" He jabbed a finger into Tatsumaki's chest, causing her to cry out in pain.

"I won't tell you where he is," said Tatsumaki. "I won't."

"You won't?" asked the Commandant. "Little one, if you care about your sister, you will. Trust me, I am well-versed in ways to truly hurt people, so experienced that they might even call me a scholar. Hahaha!"

Tatsumaki glared at the being ahead, conjuring all her hate and malice into one furious expression. Unfortunately, it was all she could do.

"Those beatings I just provided," said the Commandant. "Those were just to knock you down. What I will do to your sister, ohhh, she won't be able to stand back up again. Ever."

Tatsumaki's teeth clenched, grinding together until they began to hurt. There had to be a way out, there had to be some way in which she could use her powers to get out of here, and yet she felt not a shred of psychic energy within her. Not even her own arms were under her command anymore.

"Leave…her…alone," said Tatsumaki, every word a struggle through her clenched windpipe and mouth full of blood.

"I can promise you I will," said the Commandant. "If you speak."

Tatsumaki's heart raced. This was not a situation she was used to. What even was this being that stood before her? Its powers made no sense, its words sometimes even less so. The way it swayed and moved, the unusual mask that covered its face, the fact that its hands were balled into fists all the time…

She felt an emotion she rarely felt in fights. She was afraid.

"I…I will talk," said Tatsumaki. "Just make my arms stop, and let Fubuki go."

"Splendid," said the Commandant.

Tatsumaki's hands ceased their grip around her throat, and she gasped for air as she fell to her knees. Realizing her sudden freedom, she started to sprint towards her fallen sister, but a blow from the Commandant knocked her back to her original position.

"She will live," said the Commandant. "Ignore her for now."

"She's bleeding," said Tatsumaki. "And her eyes…I have to help her."

"No," said the Commandant. "Now we talk. We made a deal, and now you will uphold it. Don't lie to me either, I can tell if you do."

Tatsumaki wrapped her arm around her now-stinging head, the place where the Commandant's blow had fallen. She quivered with anger as she turned back to him.

"I can't stop you," she said. "You're nullifying me."

"Well, well, well, look at this," said the Commandant. "You really do know about us! This is most unusual, most unusual indeed. Was Secter the one who told you all this? Wait…"

The Commandant slid in front of Tatsumaki, bending over forwards to encompass her in the grey arch that was him.

"How close are you to him?" asked the Commandant. "He doesn't seem like he would divulge this information easily…"

"Him and I," said Tatsumaki, terror spreading throughout her brain as she mentally stumbled for the right words. "Are close."

"No…" said the Commandant. "Is he happy?"

"Better," said Tatsumaki. "Better than before."

"He shouldn't be," said the Commandant. "Doesn't he know this? That fucking idiot. He should know this. Ohh, I can't wait to confront him."

"No," said Tatsumaki. Her eyes gleamed as stared into the Commandant's mask. "He deserves-"

A new pair of hands were around Tatsumaki's throat now, those of a being far more malicious. The Commandant squeezed and squeezed, watching as Tatsumaki gasped and clawed at the hands that threatened to end her. Her efforts did nothing but make him squeeze harder.

"Don't say it," said the Commandant. "Don't say things we know are untrue."

Tatsumaki could only let out a tiny cough, her eyes bulging from the sheer pressure applied around her windpipe. Any second she felt she could die.

"I would kill you, in a way much worse than the others," said the Commandant. "But I have some more questions…and if you truly are so close to Secter, perhaps you need to be punished as well. Maybe not even with death, but with the death of someone else."

The Commandant released Tatsumaki from his grasp, her body folding over as she collapsed on the ground. Snuffling and coughing, Tatsumaki stumbled as she tried to get back up. She fell to her knees yet again.

"So you are close to him," said the Commandant. "Close enough to where he told you about the war, and maybe even about me. Yes, yes, what I did was the wrong thing. And soon I will pay. But I will not be the only one, oh no. He will end too."

"Leave him alone," sputtered Tatsumaki. "He's already hurting."

"Hurting is not enough," said the Commandant. "We all hurt, little one. Yet that does not translate to death. It is not enough."

"He doesn't need to die," said Tatsumaki. "He wants to help people, he's not a bad person."

"You are misguided," said the Commandant. He reeled back in shock, the words flowing from Tatsumaki's mouth like those from an indecipherable language to him. "He is the worst kind of person. His death will help me on the road to salvation."

"You can't be saved," said Tatsumaki. She grinned up at him, blood seeping through the cracks in her teeth. "I know what you did. And now you're here, killing more innocent people. You're the monster here."

"Who are you?" asked the Commandant. "Who are you to try and take my redemption away from me? You get to go out every day, and kill without having to worry about it later. Not me. I think about it every day of my life. You said Secter was here to help things? Well, I am too. And I'm a commandant. What I say goes."

At this last phrase, the Commandant kneed Tatsumaki in the chest, knocking her chin upwards and sending her sprawling backwards onto the ground. Tatsumaki could feel her ribcage shudder and strain from the impact, and she screamed in pain as she tried to turn to her side. Slivers of her ribs fell apart inside her as she lay groaning on the pavement.

"I am a monster," said the Commandant. "This I know. But do not for a second preach to me that Secter is any different. We are…different, but we are…similar. In the end, we both must realize the only solution for people like us. It's our time."

"You don't…" said Tatsumaki, curling up into a pulverized ball on the ground.

"Don't what?" asked the Commandant.

"You don't get to do this," said Tatsumaki. "It's not your decision."

"It is now," said the Commandant. "Perhaps it's been like that for a long time."

Tatsumaki's vision turned red, her chest heaving with pain. She couldn't get away, for there was no way out. She wanted to get to her sister, but she could barely move herself. There seemed no other option but to wait, and hope for help to come.

 _When the time comes, don't go expecting someone to come save you_.

 _Maybe he was right,_ thought Tatsumaki. _Is this…is this how I die?_

"I'm taking back what I said earlier," said the Commandant. "I need no answers from a degenerate like you. They'd all be tainted anyways. I'll find Secter myself."

"Don't…hurt her," said Tatsumaki. "Please."

"Your sister?" asked the Commandant. "I only desire one thing from her."

He walked over to the shuddering Fubuki, whose eyes were trained on her sister.

"Sis…" said Fubuki. "We have to…we have to leave…"

"Leave her alone," said Tatsumaki. Her voice quavered, not a hint of strength in her tone. "Leave her alone!"

The Commandant reached down to Fubuki's midsection and snatched the handle of the knife that was embedded within her. Ripping it from her stomach in a gory sweep, the Commandant stepped aside as Fubuki cried out and doubled over. Both of her hands clasped to the gaping wound left open by the knife's exit, and Fubuki groaned as she felt gushes of blood ooze all over her hands.

The Commandant sneered at the sight of her. He reared back, before sending a kick flying straight into Fubuki's chest. The esper slammed into the back of the door she was leaning against, blood spraying from her mouth and stomach. Her dress turned slippery from the blood that was leaking from her wound, and the Commandant shook his boot off to clean it from Fubuki's bodily fluids.

"No!" screamed Tatsumaki. She had crawled over to the Commandant, and grasped one of his legs with shaky hands. "Leave her alone!"

"It's all so easy…" said the Commandant. "This place is very different, very different indeed."

He shook the clinging esper off of his boot, and began to walk away, a craving rising up from his chest to his head. It was time for more injections, and his walk turned zombielike as he struggled to contain his desire to get away from reality.

"Now look what you made me do," said the Commandant. "Getting worse by the day, I swear."

Meanwhile, Tatsumaki dragged herself over to her sister, both of her hands grasping at Fubuki's cheeks.

"Sis, are you ok?" asked Tatsumaki. "Sis!"

"I'm…alright," said Fubuki, as the color drained from her face. "Need…help."

"I'm taking us out of here," said Tatsumaki. "Hold on close, I think I can fly-"

She managed to pick herself up, her ribcage straining at the effort. Tatsumaki draped one of Fubuki's arms around her shoulders, and she began to fly, rising higher and higher above the buildings below.

"Just…keep your hands…on the wound," said Tatsumaki. Her breath escaped in short, excruciating bursts, and the blood in her mouth made her words sound frothy and muddled. But she kept flying. She had to.

Fubuki was turning pale, her eyes glazed and distant.

"It was just…one wound," said Fubuki. "I've had worse…but how does this alone bring me down?"

"That thing is strong," said Tatsumaki. "I don't understand it fully…but don't worry about all that right now. Just focus on keeping the wound closed, we'll be at a hospital soon."


	10. Chapter 10

Secter huddled against the cold, making his way through the throngs of people out doing their holiday shopping. His breath materialized in a thin cloud in front of him as he walked, and he shivered at the icy winds which swept through his coat. Up ahead, a murmuring group of people shuffled around him, all of them exchanging confused or worried glances.

"Do you think they're alright?" asked one of the group. "They just kinda disappeared…"

"Ah, it's the Tornado of Terror we're talking about here," said another. "She'll be fine."

Secter stopped, before turning back over to the group. Voice clear and firm, he said:

"Wait a second, did you say Tornado?"

"Yeah," said one of the group members, a man in a fleece jacket. "Her and her sister were going to get into a fight with some monster in an overcoat. Apparently that guy had been attacking heroes or something."

"Where did they go?" asked Secter.

"Not sure," said the jacketed man. "They kinda just…vanished. It was weird, can Tornado do stuff like that?"

"I…don't think so," said Secter. "But thanks, I'll be on the lookout for them."

Heading away from the group, Secter ripped his phone from his pocket, his fingers scrambling to activate the homescreen, pull up the list of contacts, and tap Tatsumaki's name. He pulled the phone up to his ear, sat down on a nearby bench, and waited, all as passersby ignored his existence. The phone rang and rang, yet there was no answer.

 _Goddamnit Tatsu, what the hell happened?_ he thought.

Rising from his seat, he walked around the surrounding area, asking anyone and everyone who seemed uneasy or were gossiping about the spectacular fight Tatsumaki and her sister must've had against the overcoated monster. His investigation got him nowhere, and the details that he received about the monster left him with an overpowering sense of dread, one which he couldn't pin down no matter how hard he tried.

 _That sounds strangely specific for a monster,_ thought Secter. _Do they dress like that? I don't think I've seen one dress like that._

Nausea roiled his stomach until he felt like puking. His insides were turning to mush the more he thought about the whole event.

 _Can't be,_ he thought. _Oh God, it can't be. Don't take her away, please. She's all I have…_

Darting along rows of restaurants and shops, Secter eyed the crowds frantically, praying to see Tatsumaki and her sister walking merrily along with everybody else. No such luck. Secter collapsed down at a bus stop bench, his back slumping against the uncomfortable metal seat. There could be no telling where Tatsu went at this point, not unless he used one of his powers to see her, and that could be a problem in of itself…

His phone rang. Secter jolted out from his gloom on the seat and tore it out of his pocket, sighing with relief when the name on the screen said TATSU.

Raising the phone to his ear, he let out a sigh when he heard the voice on the other hand.

"Secter," said Tatsumaki. "I'm guessing you heard about what happened."

"Are you ok?" asked Secter. "Where are you?"

"I…I've been better," said Tatsumaki. "In the hospital right now with my sister, she's in a bed across from me. They almost didn't let me call you, I had to fight the nurses so I could use my phone."

"What the hell happened?" asked Secter.

Silence. Secter could hear Tatsumaki sigh over the phone, followed by a shuffling sound.

"There…there was a monster of some kind, wearing an officer's hat, some weird mask, and a long overcoat," said Tatsumaki. "Apparently it had been attacking heroes, and it attacked sis and me. It…it was looking for you, Secter."

Secter clenched his phone to the point where he could feel the metal edges start to bend under the pressure. His fingers slid into the divots they made.

"Looking for me," said Secter. "What does it want?"

"I think it…wanted to kill you, Secter," said Tatsumaki. "He didn't have a name, just called himself Commandant or something."

"Overcoat…" said Secter. "I didn't know any commandants. But this…fuck. What hospital are you in?"

"Saint's Cross or something," said Tatsumaki. "Look, Secter, just stay where you are, Fubuki and I will be ok, don't-"

Secter hung up, and left the bus stop so quickly that passersby could've sworn there was no one there in the first place. He made it to the front of the hospital within seconds, but upon seeing the entrance, he stopped.

 _Do it for her,_ thought Secter.

He swallowed. One step forward, then another. Keeping his head pointed to the ground, his shut his eyes tight as he moved ever closer. Another step. Then another. He peaked one eye open, and gasped as he realized he was right by the door.

 _It…it looks different,_ thought Secter. _Maybe…maybe I can imagine it as something else._

Keeping his eyes shut, he entered the hospital and approached the front desk, LED lights burning through his eyelids despite his best attempts to stare down at the floor.

"Can I help you sir?" asked a receptionist.

"Here to see Tatsumaki," said Secter.

"Have a seat sir, we'll be right with you."

. . .

"He's _here?!_ " asked Tatsumaki to a nervous nurse. "Fucking, ugh."

"Do you want us to send him away, Miss Tornado?" asked the nurse.

"No, no, he won't go if you tell him. Just…let him up here, I guess."

 _You didn't have to do this, Secter,_ thought Tatsumaki. _You…you worry too much._

She waited for Secter's inevitable entrance, her chest shuddering in pain as she exhaled. Across from her lie Fubuki, knocked out from some kind of medicine and sleeping under the bright white lights up above.

In came Secter, his face pale and eyes cast downward. He managed to look up at Tatsumaki, and fury passed through his expression. Brows furrowed, he shuffled over to Tatsumaki and took a seat next to her, his breathing almost as sharp as hers was.

"What…did he do," said Secter.

"Damaged my ribs pretty bad," said Tatsumaki. "He…made me choke myself with my own arms too. I was completely powerless."

"I would hug you, but I don't want to hurt you," said Secter. "It scared the living shit out of me when I heard you were in the hospital."

"Like I said, I'm gonna be ok," said Tatsumaki. "You…you didn't have to come in here, for Christ's sakes."

"It's ok," said Secter. "At least this place looks different. Soulless buildings…they tend to be more grey. More brutalist. Even still…I really don't like being in here."

"I can tell. You look like you're going to puke."

"Don't feel good. But I'm not leaving."

Tatsumaki reached out for him, her hand touching his arm. Tentatively, she wrapped her fingers around his bicep, grunting in pain at the strenuous effort she had to make in order to stretch over to him.

Secter scooted closer with his chair, so that he was right by her bedside. Tatsumaki let out a sigh of ease.

"I'm worried, Tatsu," said Secter. "I heard what this thing looks like, and I heard it attacked some other heroes. And it's…looking for me."

"Could it…" said Tatsumaki.

"I don't know. I really hope not. God, I really fucking hope not. This feels like a fucking nightmare now, all of it is rushing back." Secter cowered in his chair, burying his face in his hands.

"Secter, hang on," said Tatsumaki. "Just…listen to me for a second, ok? You're going to be fine, we'll figure out what's going on and take him down together, you understand me?"

"No, no. If this commandant is what I think he is, then you won't be involved at all. I'll have to face him alone, no one else."

"What? Why?"

"You'd just be putting yourself in danger if you got involved. And…I don't know if I told you this, but if you get killed by a Soulless power or weapon, then you're gone for good. They called it elimination, I think that's what they called all their weapons too. You never come back from it, can't be brought back in any way. I don't even know if you have people who could usually bring others back on this planet, but it wouldn't work with elimination. In other words…" Secter glanced up at the bedridden esper, his eyes shining with tears. "I would lose you forever."

"That goes both ways!" said Tatsumaki, feeling stinging tears begin to form around her eyes. "You can't just fight him alone!"

"It would be safest," said Secter. "If he really is a Soulless…"

"We'll find another way. I promise."

"I don't know…"

The two of them went silent, Tatsumaki never lifting her hand away from Secter's arm and Secter suppressing the urge to run to the bathroom to expel the contents of his stomach. He looked over at Fubuki, who had a wad of bloody bandages covering her abdomen.

"Is she alright?" asked Secter. "She looks pale."

"She was stabbed," said Tatsumaki. "That bastard threw a knife into her."

"What kind of knife? Did you see what it looked like?"

"I mean, sort of… It was glowing I think. It was hard to tell, the whole world was kind of spinning for me at the time."

"Elimination weapon…" said Secter.

"Does she need anything special?" asked Tatsumaki. She crawled up against her backboard, despite her chest throbbing and rattling in sheer agony. "Agh. What…what about the stuff you had at home?"

"That would be much better, except for the serum," said Secter. "Serum's too strong. Just the bandages would be better."

"Maybe we should get that, for her and the rest of the people in here who got attacked."

"You're right," said Secter. "Fuck, you're right. Look, you stay here, and call me if anything, and I mean _anything_ goes wrong. If I lost you Tatsu…I wouldn't know what to do."

"I'll be fine," said Tatsumaki. "My ribs are still intact, I'll get better. But hurry, my sis looks like she needs the stuff."

"I'll be right back," said Secter.

Secter dashed out through the entrance, pushing aside the wooden door and disappearing from view. Only a few minutes later he was back, a blue backpack slung over his shoulders.

"That…that was fast," said Tatsumaki.

"It's an emergency," said Secter. He squinted at her through the lights, blinding and burning through his psyche.

Tatsumaki pulled herself up further, watching as Secter pulled out a lump of bandages from his backpack. Glowing wraps rolled onto the floor as Secter reached into his bag to pull out as many as he could.

"She won't need that many, right?" asked Tatsumaki.

"She'll need more than you think," said Secter. "And didn't you mention that there were other people here?"

"I overheard one of the nurses talking about how other heroes had been attacked and had to be rushed here. Apparently they're in really bad shape. Some might even be gone."

"I'll have to find them too," said Secter. "Fuck, I hope I'm not too late."

Frowning at her scrambling lover, Tatsumaki noticed Secter's shaky hands struggle to maintain a hold on the bandage he carried over to Fubuki.

 _He hates being in here,_ thought Tatsumaki. _I don't blame him._

Little by little, Secter unwrapped Fubuki's stab wound and applied his own bandages, nodding as they glowed in contact with her skin.

"These will help staunch the bleeding much better," said Secter. He sighed, before turning back to Tatsumaki. "Part of the power of elimination weapons comes from the user's own strength. They only react to a Soulless or Volunteer user, so you won't be able to use an elimination weapon against the Commandant. Just another reason why you can't come."

"Well I can't let you fight him alone," said Tatsumaki. "There must be something I can do."

"If we end up fighting in a crowded area, get everyone to safety. Everybody else would be at risk, and anyone who tries to help would just be getting in the way. There's no possible way you or any other hero will be able to hurt this guy, Tatsu. It's as simple as that."

Secter pulled a strand of one of the bandages away from Fubuki, before sliding his teeth over the end of it. Biting down hard, the last piece of the bandage broke away in his mouth and he spat it into a nearby trashcan.

"There," said Secter. "That'll help much more. Not much else I can do."

"No powers?" asked Tatsumaki. "Or can you…"

"Can't heal elimination wounds with your own powers, plus I'm pretty sure the Commandant would nullify me. And he'd find out that I was here, if he doesn't know already. Fuck, I can't believe he's actually here… I could've sworn that he was dead. Why? Why the fuck does he have to go after me? Why is he going after you?"

Secter clutched at his face, tears streaming down from the cracks in between his fingers. Tatsumaki watched with horror as each tiny drop cascaded to the ground.

"I…I can't be in here much longer," groaned Secter. "This is all too much."

"It's ok," said Tatsumaki. But Secter could hear the panic in her voice, the pain that seeped through every word.

"Just leave the bandages with me," said Tatsumaki. "I can get them to the others."

"No, no, it's fine," said Secter. "I can stay a bit longer…those people got hurt because of me, it's my fault that they're in here. It's my responsibility to make this right."

"It is _not_ your fault," said Tatsumaki. "You had no way of knowing the Commandant would be after you. Much less that he'd attack people close to you. This guy is fucking insane, Secter. You can't take responsibility for him."

Secter reached down to stuff the fallen bandages into his backpack, before zipping it back up and flinging it over his back.

"He's going to ruin everything unless I stop him," said Secter. "I'm so sorry, Tatsu."

"You're sorry?" said Tatsumaki. "What do you mean, you're sorry? _Secter!_ "

He left her in silence, the harsh lights of the hospital bearing down on his shoulders like crushing mountains of white. Secter listened as Tatsumaki's voice grew distant, her tone wrathful. He approached a humming nurse, asking her where the victims of the latest monster attack were. She told him that they were not to be disturbed for the time being due to recent operations, and that the monster attack had also left two dead. Secter's head began to pound at the news, but he managed to thank her despite the ticking time bomb that was his brain. Any moment now, he felt as if he were about to explode. Hallways became fuzzy, and people turned to pink smears as if they were streaks of paint across a watercolor portrait. Nonetheless, he stumbled through the hallways, appearing half-drunk as he attempted to locate the victims of the Commandant's rampage.

Back in Tatsumaki's room, she had managed to crawl out of bed and stood upright, her chest screaming at her not to take a step further. Tatsumaki did anyways.

"No you don't," said Tatsumaki. "No you fucking don't, Secter. You don't just get to leave my life like that, you don't just get to go off and die! Don't go, just…just wait a moment…"

Tatsumaki stifled a flood of tears, her eyes burning as the gates that were her eyelids threatened to burst. This had to have been the most tear-filled month she had ever had.

Shuffling along in her bloodied black dress, Tatsumaki kept one hand over her heart while moving. Glancing back at her sister one last time, she gave a weak smile to the serene yet pale woman sleeping on the hospital bed.

"I'll be back sis," said Tatsumaki. "Have to go keep my idiot from getting himself killed." A few tears finally escaped her eyes. "Love you."

Making her way out of the hospital room, she ignored every shocked glance and surprised nurse and doctor that happened her way. A few even tried to stop Tatsumaki in her tracks, but all it took was a vile glare to make them scoot out of her path. No one could stop the esper, despite all bearing witness to the pained grunts and sharp inhales she made as she walked.

Secter was looking just as rough as he walked, seemingly half-dead as he asked every person he came across where the newly injured were being kept. He always got the same answers: either they didn't know, or he wasn't supposed to be there anyways. Finally, he managed to convince a nurse that he was a hero with special healing abilities and might've been able to cure some of their wounds with the unique bandages he kept in his backpack. The nurse pointed him the way, and Secter thanked her with all his heart. The nurse blushing at his words, Secter left her and finally found the room which housed the victims of the attack. With no one spotting him, Secter entered.

He didn't recognize the two tanktopped men sleeping on their respective beds, but he grimaced at the one who was missing a sliver of his face. Next to the man with the striped tanktop was another man clad in black armor, both of his eyes covered underneath white patches. Each of the eyepatches had a small blotch of red in the center, and as Secter drew close, he spotted another wound in the man's chest, a section where his armor had crumbled away to reveal a large black bruise. The armor had caved in around it, as if something had punched its way through to his skin.

"Don't know if these will be much help for you, I'm afraid…" said Secter. No response from any of the three, on account of them all being asleep. Turning towards the other side of the room, Secter spotted two more occupied beds, one of which was hooked up to a heartbeat monitor. It beeped at short intervals, and Secter winced at each one.

Rikuto and Mei. Rikuto was sound asleep on his bed, the side of his ribcage jutting out far more than any normal human's would. But aside from the bone irregularity and a few bruises, Rikuto seemed to be alright, his breathing normal.

Mei fared far worse. Her arms were completely missing, replaced by bloodied clumps of bandages over where her shoulders used to be. Judging by the marks on her face underneath her closed eyes, she had been crying recently.

"No…" groaned Secter. "Mei…"

He pulled a couple of wads of bandages out from his backpack, and wrapped them over the already lumpy bandages that adorned her wounds. His bandages sealed themselves to the existing ones, glowing as they did their work.

"This is my fault," said Secter. "Fuck. Fuuuck!"

He nearly slammed his fist on the table beside Mei, stopping just short in order not to the already stirring heroine.

The lights were getting to him again. The whole building was too sterile, it just felt wrong. He had no place in being here, this was where all his failures began. The longer he stayed, the more he felt them drag him down, further and further until he could not resist anymore.

Shuffling towards the exit, he began to realize who one of the deceased might be.

 _Ori,_ he thought. _It might've been Ori._

They had only met once, yet for Secter, it was far more than enough. He felt himself slipping into the abyss again. It would come for him soon, for sure.

Leaving the room of the injured, Secter made his way back towards the exit of the hospital. As he neared the lobby, he spotted an enraged woman with bright green hair waiting for him in one of the chairs.

"Tatsumaki?" he asked. "Why…why are you out here?"

"Because you left," said Tatsumaki. "I'm not letting you do this alone, no matter what you say."

"You can't," said Secter. "You'll die."

"It doesn't matter," said Tatsumaki. "I'll live or die with you."

Secter's senses were already overwhelmed, but this swept him away. Warmth, fear, nausea, and guilt all mixed together in a volatile cocktail of emotions in his brain, threatening to encompass all possible thought.

"Tatsu…" he said. "Don't say that."

"It's the truth," said Tatsumaki. "People…people will miss me, but it's what I want."

Secter frowned at her words and stumbled forward. Tatsumaki rose in response, as if waiting to catch him should he fall.

"I…I have to get out of here, Tatsu," said Secter. "I can't be in here anymore."

"Then let's go home," said Tatsumaki. "Everyone will be ok here, you can leave."

"Not everyone was ok," said Secter. "Not everyone was ok."

. . .

"None of it matters," said the Commandant to absolutely no one. "None of these people matter, once I'm gone, it'll all be ok. All will be forgiven."

He burped as he wandered around the edges of his ship, circling it time and time again. Not far from where he walked, his little crate stood ajar, two thirds of the contents gone.

"Isn't it so like humans to be so foolish anyways," said the Commandant. He flipped his hands up to his sides, as if he were weighing two invisible objects. "Can't understand a thing."

Muttering to himself, the Commandant began to walk away from the ship through the deserted remains of the city. He did this for what felt like hours, but time always moved strangely when he was high, neither quickly nor slowly but at a pace which always felt off to him. Up ahead, a red octopus with human legs began to approach the stumbling Commandant, raising a single slimy tentacle in greeting.

"Hello there," said the creature. "You must be that monster we heard about! The one who attacked all those heroes! You're getting quite a name for yourself around here, you should think about joining our ranks-"

The top of the octopus's head blew apart from a yellow blast of energy from the Commandant's direction. This blast turned out to have come from the Commandant's shotgun, which he had drawn from behind his back. The octopus crumpled to the ground, its tentacles withering pathetically as black bile spewed forth from the gaping hole that was once its head.

Snarling at the creature's corpse, the former officer kept moving, stepping over the inky mess that was once a living being. The Commandant prattled on to himself as he walked, laughing and mumbling like an entire crowd was surrounding him to listen to his presentation. The madman strolled deeper into the abandoned city, only stopping when he spotted a man in a yellow costume walking alone as well. The man turned to spot the Commandant.

"You there," said the Commandant.

"Uh," said Saitama, the handles of a grocery bag still wrapped around his arm.

The Commandant sidled over to Saitama, tripping and falling onto his palms just as he neared the sidewalk upon which Saitama stood. The bald hero reached out to the Commandant to help him up, but the Commandant held up a hand to prevent him. Rising up from his position on the ground, the Commandant tilted his head at the perplexed hero.

"Dear citizen," muttered the Commandant, his voice slurred and hoarse from the drugs in his system. "It doesn't seem to be safe out here."

"I'm fine," said Saitama. "Although you look like you've had it kinda rough. You doing ok?"

"Don't worry about me," said the Commandant. "Don't waste your time. I am only wandering before the big day…"

"Uh huh," said Saitama, a rising sense of unease growing within him. "Well, you enjoy your walk then. Watch out for monsters."

"I am all too familiar with those," said the Commandant. "Bit of a cautionary tale myself, hahaha. Ah, but such is life."

"You sure you're ok there?" asked Saitama. "You smell kinda…off."

Saitama could see yellow drippings fall from the bottom of the strange man's mask, each one seeping to the ground below. He scrunched his nose at the sudden wave of scorching stench that percolated through the air.

 _Alright, this guy is a mess,_ thought Saitama. _And what the hell is he, a hero or a monster? He doesn't really look all that human, but why would he warn me about monsters then?_

"Uh," said Saitama. He pointed to the Commandant's mask. "You're leaking a bit there."

"Not sure why," said the Commandant. "It always manages to make me do this, even if I haven't eaten a thing."

"Right," said Saitama. "You need some help or something? I can call an ambulance…"

"No," said the Commandant. "Not at all. I have everything figured out, have no fear…"

"If you had everything figured out, you would probably wear something nicer," said Saitama. "Seriously, why are you still wearing something like that?"

The Commandant laid a hand on Saitama's shoulder, with the bald hero leaning away in response. The smell was overpowering now, acrid with a hint of rotten eggs.

"Because nothing else will fit," said the Commandant.

"Oof, you smell _awful,_ " said Saitama.

There was something else odd about the being before Saitama. Saitama could feel something deep within this pathetic commandant, something churning and swirling within this being's soul. Power. Strength unlike any other person he had seen. Saitama wasn't even sure how he was able to detect such a thing, but somehow he could sense the awesome destructive capabilities of this creature in front of him. They were unlike anything he had experienced before.

"Are you…a hero, by any chance?" asked Saitama.

"Not anymore," said the Commandant. "I lost that chance a long time ago, due to my own mistakes. But have no fear, dear citizen. I will keep you all safe, and redeem myself as well." He took his hand off of Saitama's shoulder and began to shuffle away, swaying as if the slightest breeze would topple him to the dirt.

"What a weirdo," muttered Saitama to himself. In a louder voice, he shouted: "Hey, do you mean you used to work for the Hero Association?"

"There's an association?" asked the Commandant, turning back towards Saitama.

"Well…yeah," said Saitama. "They oversee all the heroes, well most of them anyways, and they've got an hq and everything. How…how do you not know this?"

"By any chance," said the Commandant, sliding back over to the Caped Baldy. "Does a man named Secter work for these people? Is he a part of them? Do they consider him to be a hero?"

"Beats me," said Saitama. "I mean, I guess people would consider him a hero. Don't know if he's part of the HA or not."

"Thank you, dear citizen," said the Commandant. "I will not forget this." He started to walk away again, the bottom of his overcoat flapping in the wind.

 _Man, that guy's weird,_ thought Saitama. _And I guess he's an ex-hero or something? Worth keeping an eye on him, especially if he's as strong as I felt him to be._

Watching the strange man go, Saitama hurried away to get his groceries home. Meanwhile, the Commandant turned around a street corner, dull pain thudding in his head as he felt the effects of the drugs wearing off.

 _Not yet,_ he thought. _Need more._

Finding his way back through the winding streets to his ship, he dug his hand into the crate and withdrew another needle. Plunging it into his bare arm, he managed a smile underneath his mask as red liquid oozed all over the bruised hole in his skin.

 _Better,_ he thought.

This would prove to be true in regards to his mood, but not so with the surrounding landscape when it melted into a desert riddled with corpses. Reality shifted away into a sea of bloody sand as the ruined buildings around his ship dissipated from sight.

 _Again, here it is again,_ thought the Commandant. _Wait…something is different. Do I…do I see my path?_

The desert he found himself in stretched on for miles, crimson sand under a dark yellow sky. To his left was a mess of corpses, each one frozen in crawling positions. To his right was the same thing, only these bodies were shrouded in a growing fog of darkness. Up ahead, two giant pillars of light emerged, stretching further and further until their tops vanished from view. One shone bright white, the other a column of black surrounded by quivering red. Try as he might, the Commandant could not direct himself towards either one, instead finding his body rigid and rooted to the spot. Standing in place, he spotted the two columns of light separate from each other, further and further leaving a giant grey gap of mist in the middle. Then he began to walk, his mind cloudy as he limped like an undead towards the shifting wall of fog.

 _I see now, I walk the middle path,_ thought the Commandant. _I have mistakes on both sides, I've always known…_

He shuffled close to the end, both beacons burning down on him with their intense lighting. Giving one last look towards the corpses on each field, the Commandant turned to the grey wall and stepped in.

 _Only one way,_ thought the Commandant. _Can be no more tarrying. Must end this. Must end this._

 _. . ._

Tatsumaki coughed into her hand, then grimaced as she pulled it away to reveal a splatter of blood across her palm. Curling her fingers into a fist, she followed Secter into his house, frowning at his strange, shuffling movements.

"You alright back there," said Secter.

"I'll be ok," said Tatsumaki. "If I can recover from my fight with you and with Saitama, then I can recover from this."

"Even still, we should keep an eye on your ribs," said Secter. "Make sure they're not broken. I…I'm surprised he didn't kill you, Tatsu."

"I'm not sure why he didn't either," said Tatsumaki. "You should lie down, Secter. You don't…look good."

Secter could feel cold sweat pouring down his back, his head still dizzy from his venture into the hospital. He knew it was coming soon.

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea," said Secter. He collapsed down onto a seat in his kitchen, eyes blank and wide open. "Should get some sleep…"

"You didn't have to go into that place, you know," said Tatsumaki. "I would've been fine."

"No, I wasn't gonna leave you in there all by yourself. I had to check on you, I got so scared…"

Tatsumaki hugged the man, squeezing him into her chest.

"I'm ok," she said. "Everything's going to be ok."

"It isn't," said Secter. "People are dead because of me."

Tatsumaki pulled back from Secter, staring at him dead in the face with her hands clamped onto his shoulders.

"Secter," she said, her voice serious. "That was not your fault. You can't blame yourself for this, I told you-"

"I can't help it," said Secter. "I can't help but think it. It's happened so many times before…"

"No!" yelled Tatsumaki. "Listen to me, Secter, this isn't your fault! What happened before, it wasn't your fault! It's that fucking commandant's, he's the one who did all this! He's the failure!"

"He…" said Secter. "He is a monster, but…"

Tatsumaki's eyes shimmered as she held back tears.

"I can't allow you to think this way, Secter. I can't. Whenever you bottle this all up and think of yourself in that way, it hurts me more than you can imagine."

"I don't want to hurt you…" said Secter.

"The only way you can is by going off and thinking like this," said Tatsumaki. "Going off and…leaving me alone. I feel like I just got you, Secter. I can't lose you, not to that fucking commandant, and not to yourself."

"You don't think I'm a failure?" asked Secter.

"No, of course I don't!" said Tatsumaki. "Why would I ever think that?"

"I…I don't know. It's still hard for me to not think like that sometimes." Secter stared down at his shoes, voice dragged down by exhaustion. "But…I'm still glad that you're here. You really want me to be better."

"Yes, yes I do," said Tatsumaki. "I love you, Secter. With all my heart. I never thought I would, but I did finally find someone who I want to spend every day with. And it's you. I don't want you to be miserable, I want you to be happy. And I think we can find that happiness together."

"Together…" said Secter, his back slouched. "But if I lose you too…"

"You won't," said Tatsumaki. "We'll figure this all out, how to beat that commandant."

"I can't believe he's actually here," said Secter. "He actually followed me."

The room went dark, the house disintegrating to give way to unfolding layers of black. Tatsumaki jolted away from Secter, who didn't so much as look up to the encompassing darkness. Within an instant, there was only Secter and Tatsumaki in an abyss that stretched on forever, no hint of the world before ever even existing.

"Secter, what's happening?" asked Tatsumaki. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing what," said Secter.

"All this darkness! What the hel-"

In the distance, Tatsumaki saw something limping towards them. Fleshy, peach in skin tone, what appeared to be a tall mass of skin slowly crept into view, more and more details being revealed as Tatsumaki's eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Behind you!" shouted Tatsumaki.

Secter turned, swiveling his chair to face the lumbering creature. He frowned at the beast.

"Wait," said Secter. "You can see it?"

"Yes I can see it," said Tatsumaki. "What the hell is it?"

"I told you about it before," said Secter. "I knew it had to be coming today."

"That's…that's the thing," said Tatsumaki. "That attacks you…"

It was coming close now, the creature's full visage coming into view. Initially from afar it looked like a tall, possibly naked humanoid with flesh hanging down from its face, and as it drew closer, this image wasn't far off from the truth. Its face was melting apart, rows of broken yellow teeth stretching into a mouth that went much too far into the skull than any normal mouth ever should. Bubbling skin hung over its eyes and its left cheek, and it gasped at Secter as it drew near, a horrific, pained sound. It kept two long, spindly arms wrapped around itself as if it were freezing, and limped along on two equally spindling legs. The remnants of a white garment hung down from its neck all the way to its knees, tattered and torn. When it drew even closer, it unhooked its ungodly long arms and fingers away from its back, and began to draw what seemed to be a pole out from the surrounding darkness.

Tatsumaki watched in horror as the creature revealed its chest while taking its weapon, the monster's torso coated in a series of short, hanging arms. Each one began to lift as the creature shambled within striking range of Secter, pointing to him in silent accusation.

"What the hell…" said Tatsumaki. "Secter…is that really it…"

"I can't fight it," said Secter. "It never leaves."

"Yes you can! You have powers, and your own strength, and…don't you have a gun too?"

Secter said nothing. The creature in front of him finished withdrawing its weapon, holding it steady within its claws. It was similar to a bardiche, a long pole with a blade at the end. But instead of a curved blade, it was a rectangular one, blocky and thick yet fine all along the edges.

"No," said Tatsumaki. "I'm ending this."

She lifted her arms to the dark above, hoping that the creature would be lifted along with it. The monster didn't move an inch, yet something was different about this thing than the Commandant or Secter. While with those two she could feel herself not even being able to use her powers, with this being she felt no such helplessness. She was using her powers, but there was nothing to use them on. It was as if the creature wasn't even there.

"What the fuck?" asked Tatsumaki.

It struck, swinging the blade through Secter's midsection. A fine mist of blood sprayed forth from where the blade hit, the impact sending Secter down to the nonexistent floor below. The creature screeched in joy at the sight of the wounded man.

"Get the fuck away from him!" yelled Tatsumaki. She rushed at the creature, a fist drawn back behind her. Tatsumaki sent a punch rocketing at the monster, but her hand passed through it as if it were made of mist. She was left stumbling forward, the creature paying her no heed.

 _How…_ she thought. _What is this?_

Secter picked himself up, one hand clutching the gash on his stomach but failing to even come close to halting the tide of blood which rushed through his wound. He glared up at the creature just in time for it to swing the blade through the upper part of his chest. Secter was knocked back, but managed to keep himself balanced despite the blow. Burning hot pain flared all across his chest. Shuddering, Secter readied himself for another attack.

"Secter, you have to fight it!" yelled Tatsumaki.

Secter focused on the pointing hands, dozens of them stretching out from the monster's torso. It screeched at him, raising the blade far above its head to execute its next move.

"Secter, listen to me!" said Tatsumaki.

But her voice was growing faint for Secter, her body being pushed away further and further into the abyss despite the fact that the esper wasn't actually moving. The only thing there was the creature in front of him, and it had come to make Secter pay.

Tatsumaki saw the distant and grey look in Secter's eyes. He couldn't hear her.

Another blow, this time swiping through Secter's side. Secter stumbled, gasping in pain as the metal block melted through bone and muscle alike. The creature followed the attack with a kick to Secter's jaw, bowling him onto his back.

 _I can't watch this,_ thought Tatsumaki. _There has to be something._

She bolted over to Secter, shielding him with her body. From behind her, the creature let out a confused cry.

" _No_ ," said Tatsumaki. "No more."

Something hissed right next to her ear, making every hair on the back of Tatsumaki's neck stand at attention. A foul stench, that of rotting fish and molded fruit, crept up from the back of Tatsumaki's head and drifted straight up her nostrils. Tatsumaki felt warm bile rising up in her throat and gagged.

"Fuck…off," she snarled.

The creature sidled around her, poking its head next to her face. Tatsumaki refused to look at it, averting her eyes even as it began to rest its head on her shoulder. Something gooey and beige dripped onto the front of her dress. Tatsumaki stifled another wave of vomit, her cheeks puffing out as her mouth momentarily filled with puke.

Swallowing, Tatsumaki finally turned to glare at the creature, which tilted its head at her gaze.

"Burn," said Tatsumaki. "In. Hell."

"Tatsu…" said Secter. He was looking at her now, blood still rushing from the cuts through his body. "Is that you…"

"I'm here, Secter," said Tatsumaki.

"It'll move you soon," said Secter. "It wants me."

"I won't let it," said Tatsumaki. "I won't."

"I…I have to be the one," said Secter. "To fight it off. It comes from me."

Tatsumaki shook her head, doing her best to ignore the creature which was bending over her shoulder.

"You don't have to do it alone," said Tatsumaki. "I'm here."

Secter smiled up at her, making Tatsumaki's heart hurt for him.

"I know," he said.

Tatsumaki felt herself moving, the creature pushing into her with its body to get her to step aside. Like a mountain, she refused to move. Unfortunately, the creature was stronger, and knocked the esper away as it drew its blade above its head.

Secter got up as Tatsumaki found herself pushed aside, staring the creature down as it poised itself to strike. Hissing and sputtering, the monster swung its blade down, the weapon dropping straight towards Secter's shoulder. But instead of severing his arm apart, the blade stopped as Secter slapped his hands over the middle of the pole. The blade was mere inches from his skin, but Secter held tight as the creature struggled to force it down. Secter's gaze burned into the creature's face as it tried to finish its slice, the monster moaning in fear at the pure fury in his eyes.

Howling in confusion, the creature staggered back. Secter looked just as surprised, watching in amazement as the monster withdrew its blade and began to slide back into the shadows.

Tatsumaki watched as well, her mouth gaping open as the monster beat a hasty retreat. Then, the world reappeared, the darkness and creature no longer a part of it.

"It…actually worked," said Secter. "It's not totally gone, but that actually worked."

"It's not gone?" asked Tatsumaki.

"I don't think so," said Secter. "Somehow I can still feel it, shuffling around in my head. But it was taken off guard by that…I was taken off guard by that."

"All this time, you were dealing with _that,_ " said Tatsumaki. "I can see why you would've had trouble explaining it."

"I still do. I don't fully understand it. I had heard of other Volunteers and Soulless who talked about seeing weird stuff and being visited or even attacked by strange creatures, but I didn't believe it until after the war, which is when I started seeing…that."

Tatsumaki rose from the kitchen floor, laying a hand on Secter's shoulder as he slumped into a chair.

"Let's get you cleaned up," said Tatsumaki. "Those cuts look bad."

"Nothing I haven't had before," said Secter.

Tatsumaki rushed over by the sink, the place where Secter's backpack had been set down before the abyss had enveloped everything. She pulled a few bandages from the bag, and helped Secter wrap them around his wounds. With the cuts staunched through bandaging and Secter putting on a new shirt, the two of them sat together for a little while, contemplating. Then Tatsumaki returned the bag to Secter's bathroom, frowning at the amount of gauze that was left.

"You're running low," said Tatsumaki. "What happens when you get cut up and you don't have any bandages left?"

"I'll just have to make due with my own healing factor," said Secter. "I've done it before."

Tatsumaki shook her head before walking over to Secter. She wrapped her arms around one of his while setting her head against his shoulder.

"It's not fair to you," said Tatsumaki. "To have to go through all this."

"I don't really know how to stop it," said Secter. "I've had stretches where I didn't see the thing for a while, but inevitably it always comes back. Usually when I'm not feeling too good about myself."

"Then we'll just have to find a way to change your outlook," said Tatsumaki. "Make you understand that you can't possibly be a bad person, you're my favorite person in all the world."

Secter chuckled.

"Thanks Tatsu," he said. "And you're mine too."

The two of them moved over to the couch, huddling together as they sat down. Tatsumaki sighed, a long and sad sound that made Secter's heart ache. Burying his chin in Tatsumaki's hair, Secter let out a sigh himself.

"I just want things to be normal, Tatsu," said Secter.

"They are normal," said Tatsumaki. "We're just going through difficult stuff."

"They can't be normal until that commandant is gone," said Secter.

"We'll get him. But we don't know where he is right now."

"Mmm. That doesn't comfort me."

"We'll get him."

Silence. Tatsumaki burrowed into Secter, her arms bringing him in as close as possible. Secter was all too eager to oblige.

"What's your favorite breakfast food, Tatsu?" asked Secter.

"I really liked those waffles you made," said Tatsumaki. "Why?"

"Waffles it is," said Secter. "We need something to pick us up."

" _You_ need something to pick you up," said Tatsumaki.

"Well, you're here, aren't you? Sounds good enough to me."

Tatsumaki smirked as she rubbed her head up and down Secter's chest.

"You're too good to me sometimes," said Tatsumaki.

"Eh, I just really like ya," said Secter.

"We should make some hobbies once this is all over," said Tatsumaki. "Spend some time doing fun things."

"Well, we both like cooking," said Secter.

"And watching tv."

"And beating monsters."

"That third one's not really a hobby," said Tatsumaki.

"True, true," said Secter. "But hey, doesn't mean we couldn't form the most kick-ass hero duo that's ever existed."

Tatsumaki shook her head, chuckling quietly.

"You're such a dork sometimes," said Tatsumaki.

"I know, I know," said Secter.

 _Please don't leave,_ thought Tatsumaki, a frown replacing her earlier smile. _If there is someone up there, have him beat that commandant. Secter deserves better._

 _. . ._

"I think that thing dripped itself on my dress," said Tatsumaki, scraping away at the sticky residue left behind on her clothing. "Eugh."

"Yeah," said Secter. "That thing is…not nice to look at."

"And it was pointing at you," said Tatsumaki. "On its chest. Like it was accusing you of something."

"Yeah."

Tatsumaki shuddered as the last bit of the strange substance went flying off of her dress into the trash can.

"There's certainly something to that monster," she said. "Something more than the other monsters I've seen. I've never encountered anything like that."

"Like I said, other Soulless talked about stuff like that…"

"Did any of them describe what their monsters look like?"

"I mean…not really. Most were kinda vague about it, or just avoided the subject in general. But there were a few who would randomly come out of their rooms all bruised up and injured for some reason."

"Huh…"

"Yeah," said Secter. "It's strange. And I never encountered that thing until after I absorbed that Soulless, and even then, not until after the war. So maybe it's specific to them."

"Maybe," said Tatsumaki. "But wherever it comes from, we have to figure out a way to beat it. So it stops fucking attacking you, and giving me a heart attack every time I come see you and you're all cut up."

"The Commandant takes priority," said Secter. "Far as I know, that creature can't hurt anybody but me. No one's even been able to see it until now."

"Weird," said Tatsumaki. She swiveled away from Secter, one hand stroking her chin. "Very weird."

"And as you saw, stuff doesn't make any sense when it comes," said Secter. "Gets all dark, time seems to flow in a weird way, all that stuff."

"We'll figure it out," said Tatsumaki. "We're in this together."

Secter cast his gaze to the ground, worry plaguing his mind.

"Maybe for that," said Secter. "But not the commandant. That guy is too strong, probably stronger than me."

"Stronger than you? How?"

"I'm just guessing," said Secter. "Soulless tend to be a bit stronger than Volunteers. It won't make a difference if we fought, but if someone like you were there, I might not be able to nullify his powers all the way…"

"Ugh," said Tatsumaki. She clamped her hands on her hips, deep in thought as to what the two of them should do. "Why the fuck does this guy even have to be here."

"I don't know," said Secter. "You met him, did he say anything about it?"

"Well, he seemed set on killing you…" said Tatsumaki. "And I think he mentioned something about how it would 'save' him or something. I'm not really sure, my mind was kinda racing at the time."

"Save him?" asked Secter, his face twisted in confusion.

"Yeah…he actually seemed guilty about something, said he was always thinking about the stuff he did in the past."

"Ah," said Secter. "That's…odd."

"If he is who we think he is, maybe he feels guilty about…you know."

"I don't care if he does or not," said Secter. "I fucking hate him from the bottom of my soul."

"Oh no, I hate him too," said Tatsumaki. "Was just weird to hear him say that."

"Well," said Secter. "Yeah. But it doesn't matter. He seems set on killing me, and I can't let him hurt anyone else. We have to hunt him down. Sorry, _I_ have to hunt him down."

"You're not going it alone," said Tatsumaki. "I won't let you."

"The only thing you could do is make sure innocents are out of the way. That's it."

"Good enough. I'm still coming with. I told you before, I'll live or di-"

Secter held up a hand, a stop sign through a hand signal.

"I…I know what you said," said Secter. "And it moves me, it really does. But there's no point in getting you involved with a fight like this. You've got reasons to live, Tatsu, even if I fall."

"Don't talk like that," said Tatsumaki, horror dripping from her voice. "You're not going to fall."

"It's a real possibility," said Secter. "Especially if he's armed. The best chance I have is getting the jump on him and blasting him away."

"I could distract him-"

" _No_ ," said Secter. "I told you a thousand times before, you have to stay away."

Tatsumaki crossed her arms at him, scowling.

"I hate all this," she said. "It isn't fair."

"I know," said Secter. "But it's just how it goes. How it has to be."

"I don't buy it," said Tatsumaki. "I can't accept this."

"You don't have a choice," said Secter. He sighed, letting his arms droop to his sides. "Can we talk about something else for a bit? I don't feel like talking about this anymore."

Tatsumaki scuffed her shoe across the floor, eyes cast downward.

"I'm going to go check on my sister," said Tatsumaki. "I'll be back soon."

"I'll come with," said Secter.

"No, you really don't have to," said Tatsumaki.

"I want to."

"It hurts you to be in that place, I can tell. You don't have to go."

"Tatsu, the only way for me to start disassociating that place from my own guilt is to confront it," said Secter. "Make it a normal part of life for me again, a place I don't have to be afraid of."

"You sure?" asked Tatsumaki, raising her gaze to meet his.

"I'm sure," said Secter. "Let's go check on her."

Getting to the hospital was quick, but Secter took his time to enter the place. He sighed and shuffled, swallowing his fear as best he could as he followed Tatsumaki inside. She kept her hand on his arm the whole time, grounding him in reality as he walked back into the building he thought of as a nightmare. Every time the lights around him threatened to swallow him whole, Secter glanced back over at Tatsumaki, whose warm gaze kept his pulse in check. Following her up to the room where Fubuki lay, he took a seat across from the dazed Fubuki, his own face looking paler than hers did.

Fubuki smiled at the two of them, her smile widening when she saw Tatsumaki sidle up to Secter with another chair.

"Hey sis," said Tatsumaki. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm…better," she said. "The doctors said they found some weird bandages on me, but apparently they stopped the bleeding, so…"

Tatsumaki and Secter glanced at each other.

"Well…that's odd," said Tatsumaki.

"Yeah," said Fubuki. "But I feel ok, tired and sore, but ok."

"Good," said Secter. "Just get some rest, you'll turn out alright."

"I think so," said Fubuki. "Still can't believe he downed me with just a knife."

"That guy was strong," said Tatsumaki. "Secter and I are trying to figure out how to take him down."

"You'll need help," said Fubuki. "Get the S-class on the line."

Secter shifted in his seat, uncomfortable at the thought.

"I don't know if they'll be able to help," said Secter. "I…I know the type of thing the Commandant is, he's ludicrously powerful."

"You…know what he is?" asked Fubuki.

"Yeah," said Secter. "Even met him once, too. He's…not a good person, as you can tell. A real piece of shit."

"Did he attack you too?" asked Fubuki. "How did you meet him?"

"It's a long story," said Secter. "I'll…tell you about it one day. But for now, we have to focus on finding this guy and taking him out."

"Be careful," said Fubuki. "If he's strong enough to take me and my sis on, then he's a real threat."

"He could've killed us, easily," said Tatsumaki. "He's a major threat to everyone."

"But if he could beat you…" said Fubuki. "Maybe they'll call in Blast? Or maybe just get Saitama involved?"

Secter shook his head.

"No, this is going to be me and me alone," said Secter. "I'm who he's looking for."

"Are you…are you sure you can beat him?" asked Fubuki.

"No," said Secter. "It'll turn into a gunfight, whoever gets the luckiest wins."

Fubuki frowned at the idea. To her, most fights were settled with strength more than luck.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to call them in if you can," said Fubuki. "This guy is dangerous, and I couldn't stand either of you getting hurt. Or…worse."

"We'll figure it out, we-" Tatsumaki coughed, specks of blood darting from her mouth onto her sleeve. "Fuck."

"You ok?" asked Fubuki. "Wait, shouldn't you be recuperating?"

"I'll be fine, just takes a bit for me to heal," said Tatsumaki.

"This is so like you," said Fubuki. "Keep going even when you should be resting."

"I'm _fine,_ " said Tatsumaki. "It doesn't even hurt that much anymore."

"You just coughed blood onto your sleeve," said Secter, pointing at Tatsumaki's reddened garment. "You need to get that checked out."

Tatsumaki groaned, leaning back in her chair and away from her favorite person.

"It's fine, I just told you," said Tatsumaki. "I've dealt with this kind of thing before, I'll recover."

Neither of her companions looked convinced, so Tatsumaki threw her hands in the air in defeat.

"Look, I'll have the doctor check it out later," said Tatsumaki. "There's more important things at hand."

"What are you guys planning to do?" asked Fubuki.

"Track him down and get the jump on him," said Secter. "End it as quickly as we can."

"Ah," said Fubuki. "Well, maybe if I can stand I can-"

"No, you stay here," said Secter and Tatsumaki simultaneously. The two of them glanced at one another.

"Well I can't let you two go off on your own…" said Fubuki.

"You're best off here," said Secter. "Trust me, this isn't-"

A doctor burst into the room, his eyes and hair wild. He scanned the area before fixing his gaze on a perturbed Tatsumaki.

"Miss Tornado, there you are!" yelled the doctor. "There's something you should see, come quick!"

Tatsumaki raised an eyebrow but reluctantly rose from her seat. Secter got up as well.

"Hurry!" said the doctor. "The tv in the lobby!" He rushed out of the room.

"What is it?" asked Fubuki. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," said Tatsumaki. "Just…stay here sis. We'll figure this out."

Fubuki let out a sharp sigh.

"Just…be very careful, alright?" said Fubuki. "It would kill me to see either of you get hurt. I…I love you both."

"Love you too sis," said Tatsumaki, her voice weak.

Secter laid a hand on Fubuki's shoulder, a small smile on his face.

"We'll be back," he said. "I promise."

Fubuki nodded at them.

Heading downstairs, Secter and Tatsumaki found the doctor crowded around a mounted television along with a group of others. Upon the screen, a journalist stood in front of the Hero Association building, a large of section of which burned in the background.


	11. Chapter 11

The Commandant slammed his crate shut and slung his bag over his shoulder. There would be no more injections, for today was the day. Flicking his wrists, he left the site of his crashed ship and headed straight for the Hero Association building. Many gawked and shouted at the Commandant as he stalked his way through the streets, but he paid them no mind. He even walked past a few heroes, who ran at the sight of him. The Commandant marched forward, until his goal reached his view.

The Hero Association building loomed overhead, a giant dark structure to which the Commandant tilted his head at. As he drew near, an alarm began to sound at the front gate, and several massive robots emerged from their hiding spots in the ground. Seconds later, each of the robots was reduced to piles of molten scrap, and the Commandant punched his way through the front entrance, annoyed.

Within the building, people scrambled away from the Commandant, yelling and screaming for help. The Commandant kept moving, ignoring every black-suited man or woman who fled in his wake. He stepped into an elevator, and waited as it brought him to the top floor.

"You-you can't be in here!" yelled the receptionist for the uppermost floor. "Someone call security!"

The Commandant stepped out of the elevator and walked past her, rage building up in his mind. His hands enclosed into fists as he stepped into the meeting room for the S-class heroes, empty and quiet. Stealing a chair and sitting at the head of the table, he flung both of his arms to his sides.

Off in the distance, a section of the HA building exploded into fire, a great inferno sweeping through hallways and rooms alike. Entire towers of the HA headquarters started to fall apart, crumbling into ruins under the explosive forces unleashed upon them.

"That will bring his attention," grumbled the Commandant. "And no casualties. An empty section indeed…"

Someone entered the room the Commandant was in, a man with striking yellow hair and a lightning bolt on his face.

"If you are here to try and stop me like the others," said the Commandant. He rose from his seat, and along with him a tide of fire swept through the wall behind him. The former officer was illuminated by the flickering flames which replaced the holographic map at his backside. "Then you should think twice."

Lightning Max gulped, but took a step forward anyways.

"Guys, he's in here!" he yelled. "Careful, he's got fire powers or some-"

The hero's voice was cut short as the Commandant suddenly appeared in front of him. The Commandant proceeded to smash the side of Max's head with the end of his shotgun. Max gasped as the side of his skull caved in, and he fell to the floor. He twitched as blood poured from his mouth.

"That will give you time to think about things," said the Commandant. "Now where is that coward? He should be here by now."

The Commandant sighed, before vanishing from the meeting room and reappearing in the devastated remains of the western side of the HA headquarters. Dark, twisted spires burned all around him, while crumbling waffle-pattern walls with broken windows threatened to collapse at any moment. A light rain began to fall all around the Commandant, and he gazed to the sky, letting the tiny drops pitter-patter all over his mask. Thunder sounded off in the distance.

"I will wait for you…" said the Commandant. "The end is nigh, for the both of us."

. . .

Outside the Hero Association building stood Tatsumaki and Secter, both of their chests hurting from the sprint over to the place as well as from their previous wounds. Up ahead lie a place in chaos, almost half of the building crumbling to ruin by now. Most of the few people who were in the building at the time had shuffled outside, surrounded by a couple of the early news agencies who had showed up at the scene. No one seemed to know what was going on, but a couple of people mentioned something about a creature in an overcoat stalking the halls.

"He's in there, isn't he?" asked Secter to Tatsumaki.

Tatsumaki had no answer, instead only staring at the inferno threatening to engulf the entire building. The rain was doing its best to quench the flames, but the fire roared in resistance. Hair becoming slick from the falling water, Tatsumaki began to walk forward, ignoring the shouting onlookers and reporters who noticed her presence. Secter matched her speed, giving her a worried look as the two of them neared the entrance to the building. As Tatsumaki witnessed the crowd closing in around them, she turned around, her glare signifying to everyone around her to back off.

"Everyone, listen to me!" shouted Tatsumaki. "We're going in there to take care of this. Do not send anyone into the building, try to get as far away as you can!"

Many in the crowd nodded in agreement, while others gave strange looks at Secter.

"Who's that?" whispered some onlookers. "What's he doing here?"

"Everyone, you need to move!" yelled Tatsumaki. "This is a potential God-level threat we're dealing with here!"

Panic began to set in. Darting eyes and looks of incredulity. No one could believe their ears, yet people began to move. The crowd shuffled and stumbled away, reporters reluctantly packing up their microphones to move to someplace safer. Crossing her arms, Tatsumaki watched the fleeing crowd before looking back at Secter. His expression was almost unreadable, serious yet afraid at the same time.

"You ready?" asked Tatsumaki.

"You're going with them," said Secter. He pointed to the moving crowd. "Get away from this place."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "And there's nothing you can do to make me."

"Why do you have to do this," said Secter.

"Because I'm not losing you," said Tatsumaki. "I love you."

Secter sighed, a wave of exhaustion passing over him.

"I love you too," he said. "Which is why you shouldn't be here."

"At least let me follow you to where he is," said Tatsumaki. "Then I'll find someplace safer."

"That's fucking stupid."

"Well I'm not leaving!"

There would be no convincing her otherwise. Secter walked into the building, all too aware of Tatsumaki floating by his side. Rain flickered across the roof above, sometimes finding its way down onto Secter's head as he passed several gaping holes in the ceiling. Dim, grey light shone through the collapsing hallways as the two moved on, and Secter winced at the thunder in the distance. As they drew further into the building, Secter found himself having to clamber over piles of rubble while Tatsumaki flew over most of the wreckage.

"He could be anywhere in here," said Secter. "But…he's not nullifying you."

"Where the hell is he?" asked Tatsumaki.

"I don't know," said Secter. "He-"

A great flash went off in his brain, as if someone had lit a sparkler within it but snuffed it out with a shadowy hand. The Commandant was using a power.

"Nullified him," said Secter. "Most of it. He knows we're here now."

"You nullified him?" asked Tatsumaki. "You know where he is?"

"Up," said Secter. "Somewhere up high."

Thus began the climb over ruined staircases, slick with the rain that found its way into the damaged building, and the ascent over broken railings and layers of shattered glass.

Secter's eyes narrowed as he reached the top of a pile of rubble. The Commandant was close now, the man who was trying to ruin everything. Who had already tried to ruin him once. Who was making a difficult world even more tough than before. The man up ahead could be the end of the road for Secter.

Would it be so bad? This planet turned out to have gone much better than Secter expected, although it was not without its hardships. Next to him was the woman he loved, somewhere far away were his friends. They would be safe, and Tatsumaki could get away. In the end, that was all that mattered. For them to be away from the world where Secter came from.

The Commandant was threatening this with his very existence. Secter knew how things would have to go.

Secter pulled himself over a collapsed stairway, taking Tatsumaki's hand as she helped him up. His chest stung from the strain, but he did his best to ignore it. As he landed on the wet floor, he looked ahead, and saw a set of twin doors, each one untouched by the fires which raged overhead.

"It's getting warmer in here," said Tatsumaki. "Hope the rain puts out all the damn fire."

"Ahead," said Secter. "I think he's ahead."

"Past the doors?" asked Tatsumaki. "How do you know?"

"I…don't," said Secter. "Not for certain. But I just have a bad feeling."

He crept forward and placed a hand on the door. It was cool to the touch, slickened by the rain that was misting all along Secter's back. Inching the door open, Secter withdrew his pistol from inside his coat and held it at the ready. Tatsumaki flew right behind him, her side glued to his back.

The door was fully open now, leading to a room with no ceiling and the tops of the walls engulfed with flame. The floor was coated in bits of rubble and a heavy layer of dust, and at the end of the room, on top of a pile of rocks and twisted metal, sat a being in an overcoat. It stood still as Secter and Tatsumaki entered.

"Ah," said the No-Faced Commandant. "There you are."

"That voice," said Secter to Tatsumaki. "I know that voice."

"Who is it?" asked Tatsumaki, although she had already guessed the answer.

"He was the one," muttered Secter. "Who had my family executed. He wore that same damn coat and hat too, except not as beaten up."

"I see you brought a friend," said the Commandant. "I assume she told you about our encounter."

Secter drew closer, still at least thirty feet away from the Commandant. Tatsumaki floated at his side.

"I could've killed her real easy," said the Commandant. "And for a bit, I wanted to. But it reminded me a little too much of old times, uncomfortably so."

"Why are you here," said Secter. His voice was heavy with a hatred deeper than Tatsumaki had ever heard before.

"To die," said the Commandant. "And of course, to make sure you do the same. I thought you would've realized what you needed to have done by now, but perhaps not. Instead…"

The Commandant leapt down from his throne of rock, crashing to the floor below and sending dust flying up in a murky cloud around his legs.

"Instead I find you with friends and even a close one," said the Commandant. "And they called you _hero_? What kind of a nightmare is this?"

"I picked myself back up," said Secter.

"No, no, you don't get to do that," said the Commandant. "You know what you did. You know that you need to die. Do you – esper! Do you know what he did?"

The Commandant laughed, a vile cackle forcing its way through the cracks in his mask.

"Do you know?" asked the Commandant. "I'll bet you don-"

"If you mean about the hospital, then yes," said Tatsumaki. "I know."

"And…you still went with him?" asked the Commandant. "You don't agree with me that he should die?"

"No," said Tatsumaki. "Secter is a good person. I want him to be happy." She clenched her fists and shot a glare so intense that it could've been categorized as a weapon straight at the Commandant. "And you're ruining everything."

The Commandant took his hat off, flipping it down by his waist while he scratched the top of his shadowy head. Returning the cap to its original spot, he strode closer to the duo. Secter lifted his pistol in response.

"I don't understand," said the Commandant. "That man is a failure, a depraved, monumental failure! And I…I did something I shouldn't have done."

"Explain," said Secter. He kept his gun trained at the Commandant's chest.

"I had your parents and siblings killed, of course," said the Commandant. "In the end, they were dear citizens, people I was supposed to serve. Even if they were human. I should've killed you on that day, and left them alone."

"You shouldn't have been hunting people down at all," said Secter. "And yet here you are."

"I can only redeem myself by fixing my mistake," said the Commandant. "Killing you, and then myself. Redemption awaits."

"Mistake?" asked Secter. "Oh, you've made more than one, you fucking degenerate."

"I did?" asked the Commandant. "Well, we all make mistakes. But since I got here, I don't recall any…"

"What about Ori, and all the rest of the heroes you attacked?" asked Secter. "Huh? What about them? Some of them are scarred for life because of you!"

"Either they got in the way, or aligned themselves with _you_ ," said the Commandant. "A fatal, and unthinkable mistake. Actually, if it weren't for the fact that I so long for death, I would go out and kill all those who dare to think you as a _hero._ " The last word was laced with disgust.

"I'm not perfect, no one is saying that," said Secter. "But unlike you, I picked myself up after my mistakes. You fell down."

The Commandant's hands flexed open and shut, fingers curling into fists before opening back up into claws.

"You're the failure here," said Secter. "You're the miserable bastard who couldn't bear to see someone like you actually get better and prosper."

"You're not like him," said Tatsumaki, looking over at Secter. "What he did, he did on his own. You had orders, you were under fire, you didn't have a choice."

"You don't get to make that judgement!" yelled the Commandant. "Innocents died on both accounts, and now the toll must be paid!"

"She's right," said Secter. "Maybe you think that we should share the same fate because you think I'm like you, but Tatsu's absolutely right. You didn't have to come after my family, no one was pushing you to do it. Your life definitely wasn't on the line."

The Commandant snarled at Secter, his back arching over as he threatened to consume himself with rage.

"You are not like me," said the Commandant. "You are deluded. I know I made a mistake, but you seem to think that yours doesn't warrant your death. I don't know why this is. Do you think your life was worth the hundreds you took?"

Tatsumaki froze in place. A chill crept up her spine.

 _Hundreds?_ she thought. _That place really was terrible…_

"I don't know how many it was," said Secter. "And no, I don't. But I don't think that I should be made out to die for following an order under fire. Trust me, I've suffered every day for what I've done."

"It was a _hospital_ , Secter," said the Commandant.

"It was filled to the brim with soldiers, I thought it had been turned into a barracks!" said Secter. "Most of those I found in there were people who were trying to kill us!"

"Use whatever excuse you desire," said the Commandant. "But the fact of the matter is, there are many who have made mistakes like you who are still up there, who remained up there even as you fled, who are still suffering or have died for their mistakes."

"I did suffer," said Secter.

"Guilt is not enough," said the Commandant.

"No, there was…a creature," said Secter.

"A creature?" said the Commandant. He perked up from his earlier hunkered over position.

"Yeah…" said Secter. "Attacked me often."

"Ah!" said the Commandant. "Good! I had one too, although the drugs helped make it go away from time to time…ah I knew I never should've gotten involved with those…"

Secter frowned as images of black bile flooded his brain.

"Well…I'm not dying," said Secter.

"Tell that to your loved one," said the Commandant. "She looks like she's seen a ghost."

Secter's face fell. He looked over at Tatsumaki. She was pale, but never stopped glaring at the Commandant.

"Tatsu?" asked Secter.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," said Tatsumaki.

"Don't listen to what he says, he doesn't know about what happened," said Secter.

"I know enough," said the Commandant. "I know that you bombed a hospital. Enemy fire or no enemy fire, yelling officer or not, you deserve to die for that."

"Everyone was dying around me," snarled Secter. "I panicked. I felt I had no other choice."

"You had one choice," said the Commandant. "The choice that's facing you right now."

"That's not how war works and you know it," said Secter. "You would've done the same thing in my situation."

"Don't put your mistakes on me, degenerate!" yelled the Commandant. "You could've easily let yourself die, or even surrendered."

"They were firing at us and we had already fired back," said Secter. "There was no surrendering."

"There is today," said the Commandant. "Truth be told, I would find it much better if you finished yourself off. Much more fitting, especially since you should've done it a while ago."

"No," said Tatsumaki.

"No?" asked the former officer.

"Secter should live," said Tatsumaki. "He feels bad for what he did. He suffered for his mistake. He had to choose between life or death, unlike what you did. And he's working to make himself better, and the lives of those around him. Unlike you, who has only killed and maimed, and aims to hurt more people even now."

Secter glanced over at Tatsumaki, secretely thanking her for her words. Turning back to the Commandant, he felt a new wave of confidence brimming in his chest.

"You're just a miserable bastard looking to take down whoever you can with you," said Secter. "You can't possibly redeem yourself, because you're irredeemable."

"Secter deserves happiness," said Tatsumaki. "But you, Commandant? You can burn in hell."

"You're both idiots," said the Commandant. "Because now, I'm going to kill you both. Fuck it, I don't even care anymore. I'll go back to that shitty little hospital and murder your sister too, just for the fun of it! And every hero who dares to see Secter as an ally. I'll make them all pay, all for just how wrong they were."

"You won't be leaving this building," said Secter. "Today's your last."

"I know," said the Commandant. "But I won't be giving you the satisfaction."

Secter fired at the Commandant, who tore the shotgun off his back as he tried to dodge the incoming yellow bolt of energy. The elimination round clipped him in the shoulder, and the Commandant swore under his breath as he dove behind a pile of rubble.

"Tatsu, you need to leave," said Secter. " _Now._ "

Tatsumaki took a step back, unsure of where to go. As her hand touched the doorway behind her, the Commandant slid out from his hiding spot, took aim, and fired.

. . .

Secter dove in front of Tatsumaki, a searing pain tearing through his ribs as the elimination burst found his way along his side. Secter cried out, stumbling forward into Tatsumaki and pushing her into the previous room.

"Go Tatsu…" he sputtered.

Tatsumaki was frozen in shock. Everything felt like a dream, moving too slow yet too quick at the same time.

"Go…" said Secter. He turned back around and began firing his pistol at the Commandant's hiding place. Running back into the crumbling room, he slammed the door behind him, leaving Tatsumaki alone.

For once, Tatsumaki didn't know what to do. She started to fly towards the ceiling, rain showering down onto her face as she neared the top. Much of the fire had gone out by now, yet tiny embers still burned amongst the smoldering ruins. Tatsumaki landed on the remnants of what used to be an upper floor, now little more than a wrecked platform suspended in the air by a burnt-out wall. From below her, Tatsumaki heard a massive rumbling sound as the floor in the previous room gave way. Peeking out from her perch, she saw nothing but a dark hole that was once the room where the shootout had begun.

 _Fuck this,_ thought Tatsumaki. _I'm going in-_

A hand grasped the edge of the platform Tatsumaki was on, and up came the Commandant, cackling as he pulled himself up.

"There you are," said the Commandant. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

Tatsumaki took a step back, inching further and further away as the Commandant marched closer. Eventually she bumped into a wall, terror flickering across her face as the Commandant trapped her with his presence.

"You say you like Secter," said the Commandant. "You say he deserves happiness. But I saw how you reacted to what I said earlier, I think you agree with me. Deep down, a part of you agrees."

"No," said Tatsumaki. "I don't."

"You know his attack killed doctors and injured too, right?" asked the Commandant. "I believe in your sorts of world, that isn't allowed. I do not allow it either."

"It was mostly enemy soldiers," said Tatsumaki. "It made sense for him to believe it was turned into a barracks or fort if they were all coming out and shooting at him."

The Commandant shook his head.

"I believe those are called mitigating circumstances," said the Commandant. "At the end of the day, he still needs to be punished for what he has done."

"Trust me, he's suffered for it," said Tatsumaki. "I've seen it. And you've caused it too."

"You've seen it?" asked the Commandant.

"I saw the creature, I've seen the aftermath of its attacks, I know…" Tatsumaki swallowed. "I know what he had considered doing to himself."

"Ah, so he did consider it," said the Commandant. "I wonder why he changed his mind…" The Commandant's head tilted forward, directly at Tatsumaki. "I'll bet it was you."

Tatsumaki flattened herself against the wall, glaring at her soon-to-be attacker.

Laughing, the Commandant raised a hand to his mask, and with a slow grasp around its sides, lifted it away from his face. Tatsumaki grimaced at his look.

The upper part of the Commandant's face around his forehead and glowing eyes was intact, but everything beneath that, especially his jaw, was stretched down farther than it ever should have gone. Long, cracked black fangs filled a glowing yellow mouth, and scars adorned his shadowy, elongated cheeks. The mask fell to the ground, clattering in the rain.

"I too have made myself suffer," said the Commandant. He reached forward, grasping a terrified Tatsumaki by the shoulders. "Yet it was not enough, Tatsumaki! It was not enough!"

"You…" said Tatsumaki. "You keep hurting people, even though you know what you did was wrong. Why?"

"Because you people are idiots," said the Commandant. "Because I had to stay up there while Secter fled, and have seen suffering on a daily basis. None of you deserve this cushy life, not even the citizens. So for me to come down here, and hear that some of you actually like that degenerate…"

The Commandant laughed, his jaw unhooking to give him an ungodly appearance.

"It enrages me," said the Commandant. "Confuses me. I will make you pay for this sort of thinking."

"Those people were innocent," said Tatsumaki. "And couldn't even fight back. And you _knew_ that."

The Commandant snarled at her, his jaw retracting back up to form a giant gate of gnarled teeth.

"Fuck them," he said. "They can all die for all I care. They're different than Secter's family, I didn't even know those poor bastards. But these ones? They align themselves with him."

"You're a monster," said Tatsumaki. "Not Secter. You."

"And you are an idiot," said the Commandant. "You've doomed your sister and everyone else on this godforsaken hellhole by pissing me off. Fuck it, all those people who like him can burn! Then I will too!"

Tatsumaki tried to rip herself away from the Commandant's grasp, but he slammed the butt of his shotgun into her chest. Coughing up a stream of blood, Tatsumaki fell to the ground, her mind scattering.

"Oh you'll feel that one," said the Commandant. "But Secter will feel it even more."

"Fuck…you," sputtered Tatsumaki. "Leave…them…alone."

"Oh, they will not go without punishment, I can assure you that," said the Commandant. "Once I'm-"

A yellow bolt of energy came flying out from somewhere beneath the Commandant and blasted straight through his shoulder. Yellow liquid spewed forth from the hole it left behind, and the Commandant gasped and clasped a hand to his new wound.

"Mother fucker!" shouted the Commandant. "I'm going to rip you apart, Secter!"

The grotesque gunman turned away from Tatsumaki, who spat at his back as he walked away.

"You're the only one who deserves to die!" shouted Tatsumaki. "For all the people you hurt, of your own volition! There was no war here, there was no war with Secter's family, you're just full of hatred and spread it to everyone else like the miserable bastard you are!"

Tatsumaki felt a pang of regret when the Commandant flipped back around. He leveled his gun forward and fired at her. Sliding down onto the floor, Tatsumaki felt her right shoulder burst apart as the elimination round passed through it and into the wall behind her. Tatsumaki gasped as she looked over at her wound, skin and black fabric hanging off the bloody mess that was once her shoulder. Glancing back over at the Commandant, she watched as he approached with his gun drawn. Then the Commandant turned around, just in time to be punched in the face by Secter. Stumbling back, the Commandant snarled at Secter as the two of them wrestled over his shotgun.

Tatsumaki caught a glimpse of Secter's face as they struggled. His eyes had become two fireballs of hatred and fury, more anger in him than Tatsumaki had ever seen in her entire life. The two combatants swung the shotgun back and forth, Secter gasping every time the barrel drew near his waist. The Commandant managed to rip himself away from Secter, but Secter kneeled down and bowled into the Commandant, sending the both of them flying off the platform next to the massive hole below.

Tatsumaki crawled to the edge of her platform, just in time to see Secter jump down into the abyss to avoid a blast from the Commandant's shotgun.

"You can't get away!" yelled the Commandant. He disappeared as he jumped down after his prey.

Alone again, Tatsumaki leaned back against the wall, her heavy breathing doing little to make the pain in her chest to go away. Face contorting in agony as she clambered back up, Tatsumaki shuffled over to the edge of the platform and floated down to the side of the hole. She peered in, but there was no sign of either of the fighters down below.

. . .

"You can not hide," said the Commandant as he wandered through the darkened remnants of the lower floor. Smoldering chunks of wood and upturned chairs were kicked aside as he crept along through the ruins, his eyes peeled for any sign of his target. He kept his shotgun level, the lights along its side glowing in the dark.

Across from the Commandant, huddled behind a pillar was Secter, one hand clenching his ruptured side as he twisted his face in pain. The Commandant had shot him right where the old cut wound was, and it refused to stop bleeding. Secter kept his pistol held high, knowing that the Commandant must be close.

"Let's face it," said the Commandant. "We know what you truly are."

The Commandant grabbed a nearby chair with one hand and tore it across the room, watching as it exploded into pieces against a blackened wall.

"A monster," said the Commandant. He caught a glimpse of the side of Secter's coat against a nearby pillar and started to slink in that direction. "A failure. And a dead man."

Secter darted out from his cover, blasting away at the Commandant with his pistol. The Commandant ducked and returned fire from his shotgun, hitting Secter across the other side of his chest. Secter yelled in pain as a section of his ribcage was torn apart, and he dived to the other side of another pillar, his entire body shaking.

 _Did I get him?_ thought Secter.

He peered around the pillar, just in time to see the Commandant flip over a broken table and hide behind it.

 _Fuck,_ thought Secter. _He's got the advantage in here with that gun._

"You'll bleed out soon enough," said the Commandant. "Might as well make it easy on yourself and give up."

"Fuck off," said Secter.

"You know, I can see why you like that esper," said the Commandant. "A feisty one, she is. Knows she's doomed, yet she still fights. I would say like you, but you're more deserving to die than she is."

"You won't touch her," said Secter. "Not while I'm still alive."

"That won't be for long," said the Commandant. He rose from his spot, shotgun levelled at the pillar where Secter hid behind. Firing away, the pillar exploded into chunks all around Secter, the man's vision going white as powdered granite clouded near his head.

Secter pulled himself up and hunkered over the remains of the pillar, firing back at the Commandant. His bolts went right through the table, blasting through the Commandant's midsection.

Howling in pain, the Commandant ran from the table, firing all the way. Blast after blast rained down on Secter's position, with Secter crouching down and clasping his hands over his ears as yellow bursts of energy passed overhead. Then, the firing stopped.

Secter peeked out from his cover, but there was no sign of the Commandant. The table was obliterated, the elimination rounds from his gun having disintegrated the center of the once majestic marble platform. A trail of yellow blood led its way past the table and a row of potted plants to a staircase, grey light shining from above the top of the steps and rain shimmering through onto the tiled floor below. Secter crawled away from his pillar and followed the blood, his eyes narrowing as it led up to the stairs and dissipated under the falling rain. Thunder clapped overhead, making him jump.

Shaking his head, Secter stumbled to his feet and kept his pistol level as he crept up the staircase. He dared not use a power for fear of the Commandant realizing where he was and jumping out at him from nowhere, shotgun drawn. As he reached the top of the steps he came to the room right below the roof, a typical meeting room complete with a minibar and a water cooler towards the back. Wilted plants were far too late to receive the water from the rain pouring from the various gaps in the ceiling, and Secter kept his eyes trained on the counter over by the minibar, certain that the Commandant must be hiding there. He passed another table, elongated and wooden, and his hands shook as he drew his pistol to shoulder height. His head was swimming, the pain melting away to adrenaline and fear. Secter felt something warm soaking both of his sides, and he shuddered as it dripped down his legs and onto the tops of his socks.

The minibar was close now, but Secter didn't see any sign of a cowering grey overcoat on the other side. He turned his attention to a door with a small exit sign above it in glowing red letters. As he approached, the door burst open, and the Commandant stepped through to fire at Secter.

"Surprise!" yelled the Commandant. He fired again and again, snarling as he just missed Secter with the first round and missing again as Secter jumped over a counter into the minibar. The Commandant fired at the collection of glasses above Secter, showering him with glass.

Secter aimed his gun without looking, blasting blindly at his attacker. He lost count of how many times he pulled the trigger, but it was enough to obliterate the windows ahead of him and the walls around them. Secter stopped for a moment, and began to peek over the counter but was treated to another burst from the Commandant. It collided into Secter's gun, and Secter swore under his breath as he withdrew his pistol from the top of the counter. Upon inspection, the gun's barrel was completely melted, and the cylinder which contained the energy for the elimination bolts was no more. It was useless.

Secter's eyes widened in horror.

"Fuck," he whispered. Unless the Commandant had been mortally injured by his blind fire, he would be facing an armed opponent without a gun now. Rising from his position, he didn't see the Commandant anywhere, but the door was still wide open. Secter took a deep breath and ran through the door, hoping to be able to catch the Commandant before he could turn around. Instead, he found a small staircase. At the end of the stairs was the roof, still smoking after the torrential downpour. More thunder sounded off, closer and louder than ever before.

Secter swallowed. He climbed the steps, reaching the top just as lightning struck somewhere overhead. Across from him was the Commandant, who was struggling with a burnt strap around his neck.

"Fucking thing," snarled the Commandant. He hurled the torn strap to the ground and with it, the bag that had been slung across his side. The bag splashed onto the rooftop and popped open, allowing a grey ovular object to roll out a few inches from its opening.

Secter spotted the object, only about ten feet away. Grenade.

Unfortunately, the Commandant spotted him as well. He turned, bringing his shotgun to waist level.

Secter didn't know what the best choice was, but he decided anyways. He charged.

The Commandant fired at the incoming attacker, watching in confusion as Secter scooped up the grenade even as a yellow burst of deadly energy passed through his stomach and out through the other side.

Secter let out a wet gasp as the burst tore right through him, but he kept going. His mind had gone grey, everything in the world fading aside from the lumbering monster in front of him. Secter made it to the shocked Commandant in seconds, and with a raise of his arm, he punched the grenade through the Commandant's gnarled teeth and forced it down the gunman's throat. The Commandant's shotgun was knocked aside as he stumbled backward from the attack, his glowing eyes wide.

Secter thumbed a button atop the grenade as he forced it down, before trying to pull his arm back out from the Commandant's slimy gullet. The Commandant's eyes turned furious, and he clamped his shattered teeth together as Secter tried to pull himself away. Skin and blood filled the Commandant's mouth as he scraped Secter's arm apart, gashes being ripped into Secter's forearm and hand as they moved. Secter stumbled back as he finally tore himself free, and he fell backwards onto the rooftop. As his spine collided with the wet ground, the Commandant exploded, engulfing them both in a brilliant flash of yellow. Secter had enough time to bring his arms up in defense, but like the world around him, they too melted away.

. . .

From above her, Tatsumaki could hear the sound of an explosion as she did her best to staunch the blood flowing from her shoulder. She had been following a trail of yellow blood that had led to a staircase, but from there the trail had gone cold. However, the sound from the rooftop, along with a ruined minibar, pointed her in the right direction. She headed up a series of steps to the roof and was greeted with an old familiar stench.

Wrinkling her nose, Tatsumaki crept forward, and spotted a small lake of blood right next to the tattered remnants of the Commandant. His corpse lay sprawled across the rooftop, arms stretched wide as if he were about to embrace the air, and his head completely missing. Yellow liquid spilled forth from the ruptured stump of a neck, and Tatsumaki eyed the body warily as she moved.

 _I think…I think he's dead,_ thought Tatsumaki. She peered closer at the body of the Commandant, his clothes ripped to shreds by some unknown force.

 _Yep, definitely dead._

Although the sight of the Commandant's corpse gave her relief, she felt a sense of panic rise from within her as she spotted a trail of red blood lead from the pool she had seen earlier, stretching all the way to the other side of the rooftop and disappearing behind a tiny brick hut which encased a stairway back down to the lower levels. Tatsumaki's heart froze in her chest, all time seeming to slow as she followed the scarlet river over to its final destination. She couldn't dare to look away, but was terrified by what awaited her. Her hands trembled, and her stomach had turned into a ticking time bomb, ready to explode forth its contents at any moment. Tatsumaki turned around the corner of the hut and saw where the trail ended.

Secter sat upright against the side of the brick wall, his eyes gone yellow and his arms sagged to his sides. His chest was a dark hole of blood with tiny pieces of white jutting out from the gory abyss. Secter's breathing had turned to a gurgling sound, more similar to sucking the last remnants of a smoothie out of a straw than anything resembling normal respiration. Blackened skin crumbled off of the back of Secter's arms, and red spots adorned his twitching legs. He turned his head towards Tatsumaki as she drew close, wincing at the pain from the giant dripping gash that adorned the right side of his face.

"Secter," said Tatsumaki. Looking at him made her want to die. There was no way to take away his pain, he could only sit in agony until help arrived. Tatsumaki felt helpless, useless, hopeless.

 _The bandages!_ she thought. _We should've brought the fucking bandages!_

Secter tried to say something, which only brought a fit of coughing as he choked on the blood rushing up through his throat.

Tatsumaki rushed over to him, laying her hands down on his shoulders and staring at him square in the eye. She could feel her eyes watering, not from the smell in the air, but from fear.

"We're going to get you out of here, ok?" said Tatsumaki. "Everything's going to be ok…"

"Grrgh," said Secter.

"Don't try to talk, save your strength," said Tatsumaki. "You can make it through this, you've been through worse before, remember?"

Secter leaned forward, letting Tatsumaki see how the abyss in his chest extended all the way to his back. Whatever had made the wound in the front, had passed entirely through his body. Tatsumaki gasped, but would not let go of him.

"That's…that's nothing, you'll be fine," said Tatsumaki. "It's going to be ok, I promise. It's going to be ok. It's going to be ok…" She began to sob, burying her head into Secter's collarbone.

"Tat…su," said Secter, doing his best to push down the rocketing wave of bile that rose from his stomach.

"I'll get the bandages, and we'll get you to the hospital, it'll all be alright," said Tatsumaki. "Then, things can go back to normal, just you and me, and Fubuki and everyone else…"

"Tatsu," said Secter, gaining more control over his speech now.

"Just hold on," said Tatsumaki. "I'm going to get you out of this. Hold still…"

"Goodbye, Tatsu," said Secter.

Tatsumaki's breath caught in her throat, choking her as she sobbed.

"No," she said. "No, no, no, no."

Secter's head slid back against the wall, away from the weeping esper. As he did so, Tatsumaki gripped him by the shoulders, shaking him while she spoke.

"You listen to me, Secter!" yelled Tatsumaki. "You are not going to die! You can't die!" She sobbed, tears streaming in neverending rivers from her eyes. "You…you can't just leave me here…"

Nothing was coming together for Tatsumaki. Her heart had sunken somewhere so low, she was struggling to find it anymore. Scrambled thoughts ran through her brain, memories of times not so long ago where Secter and her were happy. She prayed for those memories to replace today, to somehow erase this nightmare and create a different reality where the two of them could spend all the time in the world together. But in the end, she had to face what was in front of her.

 _I have to move,_ thought Tatsumaki. _I can't just sit here crying, I have to fucking move, now!_

Tatsumaki lifted Secter with psychic energy, and draped him over her quivering back as she flew into the air. She sped to the hospital faster than she had ever moved in her life, the buildings around her fading from existence as her target location drew near. Busting through the front doors, she glanced around the room in panic, until a couple of startled doctors caught her eye. Handing over Secter in a flood of tears, the doctors rushed him to the emergency room, while Tatsumaki flew straight back to Secter's home. The place was dark and empty, and Tatsumaki shuddered with queasiness as she made her way through the place and found the needles and bandages under Secter's sink.

 _Fuck!_ she thought as she witnessed the tiny stack of bandages remaining. _There's only three left!_

But it was all she had, and Tatsumaki collected all the items and rushed back to the hospital, pushing her way past nurses as she found the doctors set to operate on Secter and hurriedly explaining the objects she brought as best she could. Tatsumaki handed over the healing items over to the doctors, who exchanged worried looks.

"If you don't use these, Secter will die," said Tatsumaki. "And if he dies, I will never forgive you. I would never forgive…myself."

The doctors nodded, although they still seemed shocked. Nonetheless, they brought the items into the operating room, and Tatsumaki was no longer permitted to enter. In truth, although she wanted to stay by Secter's side, to be with him if he made it back into the light or was plunged forever in darkness, she knew there was little she could do now. Her being in there would only distract the medics, and Tatsumaki knew they needed to concentrate as hard as they could right now.

She sat down on a metal chair outside the operating room, her eyes and expression blank but her soul burning in despair. Tatsumaki wanted to keep crying, but for some reason found herself unable to. Everything went by in a white fog, obscuring all things from sight, whether they were people or objects. The esper didn't move, watching the obscure shapes go by in a slumped over position while her shoulder bled. Hours passed, and Tatsumaki found herself falling into a deep and troubled sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

A light snow was falling from the sky, tiny specks of white brightened by the streetlights which adorned the sidewalks. Tatsumaki walked along with her sister, her collar turned up to keep out the freezing cold. She kept her head down as she moved, her sister doing the same while shuffling through the accumulating piles of snow underfoot.

"Too damn cold out here," said Tatsumaki. "I hate the winter."

"I think it's alright," said Fubuki. "I get to wear some of my favorite coats."

"I'm always freezing in winter," said Tatsumaki. "My body just doesn't respond well to it."

"Well, maybe we should get you a nice coat then."

"I already have a coat."

"It's an old one."

"Fine. Maybe later."

Fubuki shifted her arms in her own coat, the shoulders encased with white fur.

"So how have you been doing lately?" she asked.

"I've been alright, not doing much," said Tatsumaki.

"That's ok, I understand," said Fubuki. "But…"

"But?"

"Well, I think it might be good to go out and do some things as opposed to spending all your time at home."

"I don't spend all my time there!"

"You know what I mean, most of your time," said Fubuki. "You don't have to if you don't want, but I think it might be nice to go out a little, you know. Maybe meet some new people, do some fun things…"

"I've got a lot on my mind right now," said Tatsumaki. "But I'll…consider it."

"It's ok, I don't want to force anything," said Fubuki. "Just thought you might like it."

"I'm fine with meeting new people, I just kinda like having a smaller group of friends. It's…more my style, I guess. I'm just not as sociable as you."

"I know. And that's ok. I'm just glad you don't seem as angry or afraid of others as you used to be."

"Yeah. Even still, I just…don't feel like going anywhere."

"Ok sis." Fubuki gave her sister a worried look.

The two of them kept walking until a building loomed in sight, tall and dark against the night sky. Flurries of icy snow dusted off the top of the place as the wind picked up, and Tatsumaki hurried closer, eager to get inside. As the two of them neared the entrance, she spotted two people standing and talking by the front door. One of them was missing her arms, having them replaced by living strands of metal chains which twisted together to form makeshift appendages. Her companion was admiring the the new arms, watching with a mix of intrigue and apprehension as each strand slithered together.

"You like em?" asked the woman.

"Wow…that's…creative," said the man.

"I might even be able to take on dragons with this," said the woman. "Call me…Metal Mass!"

"I mean, it might help," said the man. "But come on, let's get out of the cold."

"Yeah, let's get outta here," said the woman. "Hope everyone turns out ok."

"They seemed alright," said the man. "Except for maybe the lightning guy. He's gonna be there a while."

"Poor guy," said the woman. "Think it was that Commandant asshole who got to him, glad he's gone."

"Yeah, was it Tornado who got him?" asked the man. "I think…"

"No," said Tatsumaki, standing across from the duo. The two heroes turned in shock.

"Oh!" said the woman. "Miss Tornado! We didn't see you there! We're…we're big fans!"

"Secter got the Commandant," said Tatsumaki. "He got him."

"Oh," said the man. "Wow. You know, I had a feeling a guy like him could've beaten that Commandant."

"He did," said Tatsumaki, a weak smile on her face. "I was there, I saw it."

Fubuki had caught up to her sister, confused at the sight of the people Tatsumaki was talking to. A second later, she realized who they were, other victims of the Commandant who she had heard the nurses talking about in the hospital while she was there.

"Are you two…Rikuto and Mei?" asked Fubuki.

"That's us," said Mei. "And we're real sorry about Secter, he didn't deserve what happened to him."

"You have no idea," said Tatsumaki.

"Hope he turns out alright," said Rikuto. "He's a real good guy."

"We're going to see him now," said Tatsumaki. "And yeah, yeah he is."

"Tell him we said hello!" said Mei. "And wish for him to get better."

"Yeah," said Rikuto. "He'll know us. We met before."

"I will," said Tatsumaki.

They said their goodbyes, and the two espers headed up into the hospital, making their way past the reception desk, through quiet hallways with empty stretchers adorning the sides, and to a room hidden behind a wooden door.

"When's the last time you visited him?" asked Fubuki.

"Uh, like a day ago," said Tatsumaki. "I visit him every day."

Fubuki smiled at her sister.

"Cute," she said. "You love him so much."

Tatsumaki could feel a rush of heat pass through her face, but she kept her chin held high.

"Well, yes, I do," said Tatsumaki. "I…take a lot of strength from him, and him from me. And I like how he treats me, always respected and listened to me, never wanted to use or manipulate me for anything."

"I'm so happy for you two," said Fubuki. "I know I've said it before, but seeing you two together…you guys just light up when you're around each other."

Tatsumaki hid a smile as she pushed the door open. There, sitting upright and half covered by a white sheet lay Secter, his arms heavily bandaged and his chest looking more like a mummy's than a man's. His face had healed completely, but there were still faded marks across his cheek, small yet apparent.

He was watching a tv that was bolted onto the corner of a wall, boredom seeping into his expression. As Secter turned to see Tatsumaki and Fubuki enter the room, he smiled the biggest smile Tatsumaki had ever seen, and shifted over to the edge of his bed to be closer to her.

Tatsumaki collapsed into a chair next to Secter, pushing herself over to Secter and hugging him in the process. Fubuki followed behind her, crossing her arms as she witnessed her sister kiss Secter. The two of them held each other for a while, Fubuki awkwardly scratching her neck as she stood at a distance. When they separated, Secter gave a shy little grin to Tatsumaki's sister.

"Hey Fubuki," said Secter.

"Hey," said Fubuki. "You doing alright?"

"Getting better every day," said Secter. "Least that's what the doctors said."

"You're lucky to have survived," said Fubuki. "You looked _bad_ , from what I saw."

"Yeah, nearly died," said Secter. "But Tatsu was quick on her feet, probably saved my life to be honest."

"We should've brought the bandages with us," said Tatsumaki. "And the syringes."

"There was no time," said Secter. "Had we waited longer, more people would've ended up like Max or worse."

"Max…what happened to him?" asked Fubuki.

"Coma," said Secter. "Apparently, he barely escaped death too. But there's no telling how long he'll be out."

"Fucking Commandant," said Tatsumaki. "Hurt so many…"

"Well, he's gone now," said Secter. "Although the things he did…they'll take a while to heal." He shook his head, his brows furrowing. "I wish I could've saved them."

"You did what you could," said Tatsumaki. "Now you should rest."

"I've been sleeping for an entire week," said Secter. "More or less of my own volition. I want to leave this place, I feel fine enough to walk."

"Already?" asked Fubuki. "You…you had a hole blown in you!"

"Eh," said Secter. "I heal quick. Although I will say, I thought it was over then and there. I was…really scared. Didn't want to go."

"I know, you scared the living shit out of me," said Tatsumaki. "Don't ever do anything like that ever again."

"I'll try not to," said Secter. "But no guarantees. Anyone else like the Commandant ever comes in, I'll have to step in again."

"You act like you kinda knew what the Commandant was about," said Fubuki. "Why was he after you anyways?"

Tatsumaki and Secter exchanged uneasy glances.

"I guess…I owe you some explanation," said Secter.

"You don't have to tell her everything if you don't want to," said Tatsumaki.

"I think she deserves to know at least some by this point," said Secter. "Even though I wasn't expecting the Commandant to come after me."

"Know what?" asked Fubuki.

Secter swallowed, and swallowed hard. After Tatsumaki laid a hand on his shoulder, he began to tell his story.

Epilogue

"Smells good in here too," said Secter as he plopped down onto Tatsumaki's couch.

"That's because I'm making something," said Tatsumaki from the kitchen. She turned back to a sizzling pot of rice and meat, hot steam rising from within the ingredients.

Secter shifted in his seat, wincing at the pain which flared up from his chest. Crossing an arm around his bandaged stomach, he let out a slow and mournful sigh while sinking into his seat. His entire torso still felt torn up, his insides burning whenever he moved. Despite this, he could still manage to walk without keeling over, but every day had become a painful experience. In due time, he would heal, in large part due to the efforts of his lover who had come over to sit next to him.

"It's almost ready," said Tatsumaki. She wrapped an arm around Secter, pulling herself close so that she could lay her head on his ribs. Bringing her other arm around his front, she pulled herself into a sideways hug with him.

Secter hugged her back, the two of them glued to one another in a warm embrace. His heart warmed into a fireball, his face beaming as he felt happiness swell from within. Next to him, Tatsumaki felt the same as she gazed up at Secter.

"You know, I'm glad to see how well sis handled what you said," said Tatsumaki. "I mean, there were some difficult parts for her, but she listened, and you got through it too."

"You being there helped a lot," said Secter. "And yeah, I'm not surprised she seemed a little overwhelmed. It was a lot to dump on her all at once."

"I think she understands though," said Tatsumaki. "And if she doesn't, I'll make her understand."

"Let her draw her own conclusions first," said Secter. "She's gotta digest everything, then we can all talk. But for now, I just want to relax, and sleep."

"Yeah, you're right," said Tatsumaki. "Relaxing sounds nice."

"Just for a little bit, then maybe we can have a little party thing for the holidays," said Secter. "Invite your sis over, maybe some other people…"

"Maybe…" said Tatsumaki, her eyes darting to the side.

"Ahhh, it'll be fun," said Secter. "And I promise, I'll stay away from the alcohol. Planning to dump whatever I got left at home once I get back."

"Really?" said Tatsumaki. "Good. That stuff isn't good for you. Not that I don't drink or anything, but you know, it seemed like you relied on it to be happier."

"I definitely wasn't using it right," said Secter. "Should've been for fun, or casual. So down the drain it goes."

"Good," said Tatsumaki. "That's good."

She fidgeted around in her seat, as if she were fighting the cushions for control of her position. Secter gave the Tatsumaki a strange look, unsure of whether he should move so she could be more comfortable.

"So are you…going to live here now?" asked Tatsumaki. "With me?"

"You want me to?" asked Secter.

"Well, I have the room, and your house is kinda shitty," said Tatsumaki. "Plus I'd like it if you were around."

"I don't see why not," said Secter. "I mean…you do have a nice house."

He pressed up against Tatsumaki and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

"And I'd love to be around more," he said.

Tatsumaki wrapped a hand around the back of Secter's head and pulled his face into hers. Their lips met, and they began to kiss, Tatsumaki ruffling the hair on the back of Secter's head as they did so. Secter ran a hand down Tatsumaki's back as she pressed herself closer. The passionate making out went on for a while, before the two finally pulled away from one another. They looked into each other's eyes, Tatsumaki giving a wry smile and Secter smirking back.

"You're all to myself now," said Tatsumaki.

"I'm yours huh," said Secter. "Didn't realize I belonged to anybody."

"You belong to me, and no one else," said Tatsumaki. "You're the only one I want, and I'm not losing you again."

"You never did," said Secter. "But we're here for each other. I'm here for you."

"Love you, Secter."

"Love you too, Tatsu."

The two of them went into the kitchen to get their food, with Tatsumaki laughing at Secter as he they each tried to bump each other out of the way to get their helping first. Tatsumaki won the battle, scooping out a heap of stir fry onto her plate before Secter could slide his plate on top of hers to catch it. Shaking his head, he got his own serving and followed Tatsumaki back to the couch. Both of them sat down and watched tv together while eating their meal, content and warm. Though the night was cold, neither Tatsumaki nor Secter could feel it in their embrace. Tomorrow would be a new day, and they would always look forward to it.

. . .

Author's Note: Wow, can't believe we're at the end already. I want to give a big thanks to everyone who has made it this far in the story, and I want to give an even bigger thanks to francisman90 for giving me the detailed reviews (which I hope other people enjoyed as well) and the motivation to actually keep writing and eventually posting this story. Without his responses/beta reading, who knows how long it would've taken me to post this story. In any case, I hope everyone enjoyed the fic, and I welcome all readers to leave their comments/reviews/criticism in the review section, as I love talking about the story with readers (plus I think there's a lot to discuss here too). That's about it for now, but keep an eye out, for perhaps we might see more of Secter and Tatsumaki in the future...

Bye for now, and thanks for reading!


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